Gilded Butterflies
by Kid Crisis
Summary: AU. Naruto was looking for love in a world where he didn't belong, and came across a girl that no one really understood. He just wanted to tear down the marble walls and open her eyes. And Hinata? Well, her heart never really stood a chance.
1. 00: Downhill From Here

**Last Waltz **by **The Rasmus**

* * *

**GILDED BUTTERFLIES**

* * *

_Make me blind, cover my eyes  
You can do what you want  
__I'm paralyzed by the perfect mood  
__When we're dancing with blindfolds on. _

**.00.  
****downhill from here**

_gil-ded: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing _

He was beautiful. Just like Okaa-san had said. The morning sun shone bright yellow rays against his pale skin and made his irises sparkle like newly cut diamonds. His long brown hair was loose around his back and shoulders, waving like a curtain of chestnut-colored velvet behind him. His glittering eyes narrowed in the light slightly, his mouth curved into a charming smirk. Hyūga Hiashi was a prince indeed. He had driven up beside the curb in a big black car that was so perfect and new that one's reflection seemed to look more attractive if they'd stare into it long enough.

Okaa-san had said he'd come back.

Okaa-san had _never _lied to her before.

Holding a fistful of the reddest tulips in her mother's garden, Hinata took three tiny steps towards him and then immediately hopped back. Her heart was thundering inside of her little ribcage and it was getting difficult to breathe. She swallowed and blushed, her giddiness making her smile. The apples of her cheeks raised higher and higher, their color going from pale to pink to crimson. She looked up at her mother, marveled at the simple fact that she was nervous and wringing her long white dress in her hands. Her black hair was thrown to the side in spiraling curls and her pupils swept back and forth like a clock.

She began to bite at her red lips when Hyūga Hiashi straightened his black tie and stuffed his hands into his business suit bottoms and strode over to them. By the time he got into the front yard his kind smirk turned into a full blown frown. His thin brows furrowed. Okaa-san let go of the sob that she must've been holding and ran to him, wrapping her thin arms around his waist. She was a tiny five feet and Hyūga Hiashi was a staggering six feet and three inches. Okaa-san buried her tear-streaked face into his chest and looked up at him with wide dark eyes. "Oh, baby. Baby, I knew you'd come back to us. Hiashi, I love you." She smiled wide and gripped him tighter.

However, his gaze was not directed at the woman who was holding him. Instead, he was practically gawking at the little girl directly behind her; a little girl with long black hair and a white dress on. She was gently touching her mother's exposed leg where her dress had ridden and was intently staring back at him.

Finally, he looked at Okaa-san and said, "Who is this?"

She blinked a few times before she looked behind herself and saw her small daughter clutching her flowers. Okaa-san smiled softly and placed her hand on Hinata's head, ushering her forward. She stepped back from the man she loved and put her in between them. Hinata and Hiashi didn't break gazes once.

"Hiashi," Okaa-san whispered, "this is Hinata. My daughter." She glanced up at him. "_Our_ daughter," she specified. He inhaled deeply through his nose. "I see." He bent in front of Hinata and hesitantly strung a large hand through her long hair. She grinned brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. He was unresponsive. When Hinata didn't feel his arms return her embrace, she pulled away from him. "Otou-sama?" she mumbled. He looked into her eyes, eyes identical to his own, and chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. You just surprised me, that's all. It seems your mother has been keeping you a secret," he said, looking up at Okaa-san.

"She's _very_ good at that," Hinata clarified and hugged him again. He was fascinated by her silky hair and pulled it around her shoulders. He did have to admit that Hinata was the prettiest little girl he'd ever seen. He could see she had her mother's hair and mouth, but his nose, ears, and chin. He held her hands in his and said, "Why don't you go…pick some more flowers, while your mother and I have a little chat." Hinata nodded and giggled when he kissed her forehead. She handed him the tulips and walked into the backyard and pass the garden. In her happiness, she didn't notice the small white, stray kitten she tripped over. The cat shrieked and ran around behind her, its icy blue eyes narrowed and black tipped ears pressed down on its head.

"Oh, Akiku!" she yelped. His menacing look turned into one of utter cuteness as he recognized who she was and snuggled under her leg. She petted him once or twice, feeling his softness, before a loud aggravated sound resounded through her ears. She crawled to the side of the garden beside her house, and from her hiding spot she could see her mother and father arguing. Okaa-san's hands were clenched into tight fists, her eyes filling with unshed tears. "_What_ did you just say?" she seethed through gritted teeth. Hiashi reached out to tightly grip Okaa-san's small shoulders. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Kanae, you've ruined everything," he hissed.

Her lovely face twisted into one of sheer anger. She was absolutely livid. She jerked out of Hiashi's arms, tears falling down her red face. "You were just acting like you loved her," she said. "Why didn't tell me you were pregnant?" he scowled. She hugged herself. "You were in America so long. I kept trying to contact you, but your _wife_ always answered the phone…" She turned even redder and shrank into herself. She had never, ever felt right about what they were doing, but that didn't mean Hiashi had to ignore his own daughter for the first seven years of her young life. "Kanae, listen to me. We didn't need her. I only wanted you."

"I love her," she said simply, crossing her arms.

"I thought you loved _me_?" he questioned, his silver eyes piercing her unnaturally dark ones.

"I do," she breathed. "I do love you."

Hyūga Hiashi reached for her to give her a kiss, but she pushed his chest. "But I love my daughter more. And if you can't accept her, then you can't have me." His face tinted ruby. "Fine," he spat. "You keep your wretched little girl. I'm going back to my _wife_." He threw the tulips in his hands and stomped them, before he began walking back to his car. Okaa-san's tears became more prominent and spilled down her chin in waves as she screamed after him, "Go then, you bastard! And don't ever show your _fucking_ face back here again! Do you hear me, you fucking asshole?" He called her an evil bitch, opening the black door and climbing in. He started the car and drove off.

Hinata moved back behind the corner of the house and covered her mouth with her tiny hands. Her legs were brought to her chest, and Akiku was under them, his white head on one of her bare feet. She was crying, her whole body shaking. Why did her father not want her? Why did he already have a wife? Wasn't Okaa-san his wife? Why did he live in America, so far away? She buried her head into her knees and sobbed until she felt a soft, warm hand on her back. Hinata looked up quickly, only to see her mother. She smiled sadly and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Please. Please tell me you didn't hear that." Hinata bit her lip. "What does 'wretched' mean?"

Okaa-san then proceeded to burst into tears.

* * *

Four weeks and three days had passed (Hinata had counted) since Hyūga Hiashi's brief—and rather unpleasant—visit. She had brushed off her disappointment, cried a little bit, but her father was a stranger and she didn't see how she could miss him. However, he obviously was not a stranger to her okaa-san, because all her mother did was cry…and cry…and then cry some more. Sometimes she would start up in the middle of the night; loud sniffling noises and ear-splitting sobbing and constant blowing of the nose. Hinata felt like a new mother that had to wake up every hour and a half to tend to a new baby like the women that she sometimes watched on the television. She would rush into her mother's room and climb into bed with her, patting her back and kissing her shoulders until she fell asleep again.

It had been routine for the last four weeks and three days but it was tiring. How many seven-year-olds had to take care of their mother? Okaa-san would not eat or drink, so Hinata had to bring her cookies and bologna sandwiches and glasses of milk. She wouldn't answer the phone when it rang, or watch TV, or tend to their garden. She wouldn't even read bedtime stories anymore. Hinata found herself doing all these things alone, but what was the hardest was having to read the books. She didn't know many of the words.

Two more weeks after that, Hinata couldn't even get up in the night to comfort her mother because she was crying, too. Okaa-san was not being a grownup anymore. She was being a child, the child that Hinata was supposed to be.

One night when she was fast asleep in bed, her mother had barged into her room, smiling, laughing and crying, shaking her awake.

"Baby, wake up! Look, look, look! _Look_ at what your father has sent me!" There was a white, large letter in her hands and she pressed it to her chest before sighing. "He sent me a _letter_; isn't that romantic?" Okaa-san scooted Hinata over and sat next to her, shoving the rose-scented envelope into her face. Okaa-san's name was scrawled onto the front.

"It's beautiful, no, Hinata?"

Hinata sat up in her bed, pushed the pink and white covers from her body, and ran to the bathroom to vomit up the contents of her stomach. At the time she wasn't exactly sure what had made her so sick, but hearing the word "father" made her insides churn like a meat processer. Okaa-san ran to her daughter's aid, pulling the hair back from her forehead. "Oh, baby, are you okay?" she whispered, helping her up to the sink. Okaa-san washed her mouth clean and picked her up.

They walked back to Hinata's bed where Okaa-san lied her down and soothingly stroked her hair. Hinata loved it when her mother stroked her hair. "Okaa-chan, why did otou-sama send you a letter?" She felt that calling him Hyūga Hiashi would hurt her mother's feelings. "_Because_, silly, he loves me!" her mother shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

She giggled her heart out, squeezing that piece of paper until it crinkled under her grip.

Hinata's small mouth made a sneering shape. "Really?" she asked, her eyes straying from the envelope. She got back under her covers and smothered her face until her pillow. Maybe if she did that long enough she would stop breathing.

"Honey," Okaa-san said. Her voice quieted. "I know the impression your father must've given, but he really is a wonderful man. He's paying for our house and everything. He loves us." She touched the crown of her daughter's pale white forehead with shaky fingers.

"I want to sleep," Hinata said. She could feel her eyes tearing up. She didn't want to cry in front of her mother, but could the woman actually be that _stupid_?

"I don't want to see him!"

"Hinata!"

"No! I hate him!"

Okaa-san stood and grabbed her by her shoulders, slightly shaking her. "Take that back!" she screeched, her voice taking on that of a three-year-old's.

How typical.

Hinata, completely in awe that her mother was acting this way, felt tears brim in the surfaces of her eyes—Hiashi's own grey eyes—and shrieked. She screamed and cried and fought against her mother's grip until Okaa-san gasped and, in her anger, struck Hinata across her tiny cheek. There was an instant silence that consumed the bedroom in that moment in which both mother and daughter were in utter shock. Okaa-san had her pale hands wrapped vice-like around her mouth, her strange colored eyes wide and bulged.

Hinata, however, was indifferent. Even though her hands were fisted in the sheets underneath her, her face was calm.

"Baby, I-I—" Okaa-san stuttered, tears filling her eyes. "God, I'm sorry! Oh, God. Baby, I love you, I'd _never_ hurt you on purpose! I lo—"

"Okaa-san," Hinata said darkly. "I want to sleep."

"But, you _really_ need to listen to what I have to say."

"I'm tired. Let me sleep! I want to _sleep_!" And now she was screaming again, the pain of the slap swimming through her face and making her lips slack. This was not okay. She could not forgive her mother for hitting her in such a way. She would not sit and watch Hyūga Hiashi destroy their very lives. She pushed Okaa-san's hands away when she tried to gently touch the spreading purple-pink mark on her cheek. Hinata buried herself under her covers and softly cried, soaking her pajamas and blocking out her mother's sobbing, apologetic voice. After about five minutes, Hinata felt the bed shift and she knew her mother had gotten up to leave the room, the letter still tightly in her grasp.

When she felt her eyes growing heavy, a warm, cool hand was placed on the back of her neck. She jutted up from the sheets, hair in complete disarray, and stared with wide eyes at Yuhi Kurenai.

The woman had been her nanny for nearly two years. Hinata wiped her face and pushed back the black strands of hair that were annoyingly blocking her vision. Kurenai smiled kindly, her blood red mouth stretching in a closed-mouthed grin. Hinata looked away from the woman's irregular red eyes and pretended as if it did not bother her. True, it scared her deeply, but her mother had convinced her that Kurenai's eyes were not strange. In fact, they enticingly beautiful and she should appreciate that she had such a caretaker. Kurenai sat her up slightly and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"Is your okaa-sama stressing out?"

Hinata didn't say anything. She turned her head and sang a small tune in her mind.

"She loves you, honey."

Silence.

"Hinata-chan, everything's going to be okay. You know what? Your mother asked me to take you on a little trip. We're going to the beach! Just me and you, hon." Hinata's head snapped to Kurenai. "Not Okaa-san?"

"Well, no, not this time."

"I don't want to go."

There was a very quick flash of something that passed in the nanny's red eyes. "You don't have a choice."

* * *

They drove to Hitomi Beach outside of a large city with one bag for each of them. Next to the beach was the Hitomi Resort, some two and a half star place that looked rather appealing from the outside. They were practically in the middle of nowhere, Hinata noticed, when she woke up from her nap and glanced out the window. There was nothing for miles except for ocean. Kurenai had the shiny, new black car parked in a small place that was crowded with not-so-nice-looking cars everywhere else.

Hinata cringed when Kurenai opened her door and roughly yanked her out the car. "C'mon, kid. We're here," she said, her bloody eyes glued to the hotel in front of them. She was wearing pink stilettos and a skin-tight, strapless white dress. Her black curls were tousled about her head lustrous waves, cascading down her back. Hinata frowned at the length of her shoes, but cracked a tiny smile at seeing the blue ocean. They were far away from it, but she could still see the sun setting on the azure waters. Kurenai had said they'd go down to it later. She let go of Hinata's hand for a moment to grab their bags. _It's just for the weekend, _Hinata kept reminding herself.

She reluctantly walked with her nanny to the entrance of the hotel and whined quietly at what she saw. There were men, dozens of them, coming out from the doors with sleazy looking women on their arms and drinks in their hands. One older looking man came out with a very young girl on his back, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. There was black makeup and pink lip gloss smeared all over her face. Her brown hair was falling out of its ponytail, and her eyes were a beautiful, intoxicated light blue.

They were also leaking tears.

"C'_mon_, kid."

Hinata tightly closed her eyes and then opened them. Kid, huh?

Kurenai had started calling her that a lot. Maybe she forgot her name when Okaa-san wasn't around.

She nodded regardless, and walked with her hand-in-hand into the building, her nose scrunching up at the smell and her skin crawling at the aura this place held.

"Well, look who it is: Yuhi Kurenai-chan!" A large man walked over to them, eyeing them both. His eyes fell on Hinata, and he smiled. "Well, hello there…" His voiced slurred a little. He bent to her height and she could smell his breath, reeking of alcohol and smoke. She quickly hid behind Kurenai's long legs. "Hey! Stay back, Gai!" The man backed away at seeing Kurenai's mean face. "O-Oh! This _youthful_ flower of beauty is...yours?" he asked. Kurenai threw her head back and laughed. "No way! Me? Kids? Get real."

Hinata looked down at her feet.

"Did someone say Kurenai?" A tall, muscular man came down the steps of the lobby. He had a hand-made cigarette in his mouth, tanned skin, and black hair. Kurenai's face lit up when she saw him and she ran over to him.

Hinata followed her quickly, seeing as how that Gai man was still leering at her.

"I've missed you so much…" Kurenai said to the man. He kissed her passionately on the lips and Hinata could hear whistles and cat calls in the back. _What kind of hotel is this?_ She was so young and confused. There were naked women holding onto men around their necks and kissing and hugging and whispering. Hinata even saw one woman who had a big, pregnant belly and no shirt on. Babies aren't supposed to have smoke around them.

"Well, who's this?" the man that was kissing Kurenai asked. "Yours…?"

"No," she said, "the lady I work for."

"She's such a pretty little girl. My name's Sarutobi Asuma. What's yours?" Hinata blushed crimson and stuttered out, "M-My n-name is H-H-Hinata." Asuma stared down at her with a devilish look on his face. She hid further behind Kurenai. She began to dislike being called pretty. "It's nice to meet you. So," he turned back to Kurenai, "what's her ma look like, eh?"

She rolled her eyes and pushed on his chest, but grumbled out, "Spitting image."

Asuma tilted his head to the side and smiled. _Then she must look like a goddess._

Loud music and shouts started coming from the room around the corner. Hinata could hear the hollers of men, like "Gimme more!" and "Yeah, baby!" She felt tears sting her eyes. This _place_ was scaring her and she wanted to go home. She was jumping at the smallest sounds; hear heart was hammering inside of her chest, numbing her ribcage. "Would you like a drink?" Asuma asked, kissing Kurenai again. "Arigotou," she mumbled and followed him to a huge bar filled with alcohol. "What about the kid?"

"Just get her some water." When the clear aqua was handed to Hinata by the old bartender, she drank it down appreciably. Only when she opened her eyes, did she notice some of the drunken men staring at her.

"Get a life! She's just a little girl!" Kurenai yelled.

"Let's go upstairs to a room," Asuma suggested, wrapping his strong arms around her bodacious figure. Hinata wasn't sure exactly what to do at that point, but she definitely was _not_ going to stay in the lobby with all those weird men. One man even had the audacity to grab a lock of her hair and pull her towards him. She screamed and threw her water glass at his bare feet, shards of the crystalline substance stabbing his toes. She ran after her nanny as fast as her feet would take her and sighed deeply when she spotted them together in one of the hotel rooms.

"So, how's it been?" Kurenai asked her—Hinata assumed—boyfriend.

She had curled herself up on the older woman's side on a hard bed. "Well, strippers have been coming in and out asking for work, but _none_ of them have been as good as _you_ were, baby," Asuma responded, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back into the chair he was in. Kurenai giggled. Hinata tilted her head to the side, eyes wide. She _knew_ what _that _was. Sometimes, when they would go into town, people would shout those kinds of words at Okaa-san. When she asked Okaa-san what they meant, she'd just shake her head and smile. Tell her that those people were just jealous and sad because she had a beautiful daughter and a great man, _Hyūga Hiashi. _But she had learned the meaning anyway. Hinata then came out of her revere and realized one thing.

This was not a hotel.

In her distraction and utter fear, she barely noticed when Asuma lifted her into the air and placed her on the sticky chair he'd been sitting in. He crawled on the bed closer to Kurenai and laid her down under him, lining her neck with fierce kisses. One of his hands searched under her dress for her panties, while the other tugged at her hair. It wasn't until Hinata sniffed loudly that they both finally stopped. She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks and plopping onto the nasty hardwood floors. Where was Okaa-san? Why had she agreed to let Kurenai take her_anywhere_? She wiped her bright red face and cried harder when she realized that Okaa-san had dumped her on the nanny to spend time with her father. It all made sense. He had sent a letter to let her know he was coming, so Okaa-san had to drop her and _quick_.

"Asuma-kun…" Kurenai mumbled. "Not now. Not in front of the kid." Asuma shrugged and kissed her again. "Iie, stop," she said. "She's heard our entire conversation. She'll tell her mother…" Hinata folded her arms over her torso when the man came stomping over to her from the bed. "You won't tell, will you? Because if you do…" He reached into his pants pocket, bringing out a small knife and grabbing her face, squeezing her cheeks until her lips puckered, "I'll find you and cut that pretty little tongue out of your mouth." She nodded like her life depended on it, and ran passed him into Kurenai's arms.

"Asuma-kun! Don't say things like that to her!" He came over to Hinata and picked her up so she was straddling his waist. "Feh, she won't tell now." He walked to the door, opened it, and put her down outside the room on the floor. She looked up at him, obviously terrified, and then at Kurenai, who was looking at her long nails. She bit her rouge-colored bottom lip and glanced at Hinata from the corner of her eye. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she silently shook her head to herself and lay down on the bed. Asuma quickly waltzed back into the room to grab a heavy, thick gray blanket. He threw it to the ground, smiled smugly, and then pointed to it. "Stay here for a while, kid. Don't you come back 'til Kitty comes to get you."

_K-Kitty?_

An old name.

She nodded hesitantly.

"If you do, I'll come out and feed your pretty ass to the rats."

She began to cry again.

He laughed. "That's more like it, Hinatro!" He walked back in and shut the door hard in her face. "M-My name i-is H-Hinata…" She sat on the back of her heels and blubbered and cried in her small hands. _Okaa-chan…Okaa-chan, I need you. Does Otou-sama mean more to you than…than me? _Hinata couldn't think about it anymore. It made her head numb and her mouth strangely dry. She just curled into a small ball and wiped her tears. All through the night, the disturbing sounds of Kurenai and Asuma's erotic moans and groans taunted her, adding to the sounds of the rats in the hallway that were snickering at her misfortune.

* * *

"Get _out_!"

When glass breaks, it is a very distinctive sound. Some find it right out horrid the way it shatters and cracks. Hinata could only describe it as revolting; the worst sound she'd ever heard in her life. It made her ears sting and her heart quicken. When the glass broke from behind the door of Kurenai and Asuma's room, Hinata felt the pieces stab straight into her seven-year-old heart. She got up from the dirty, smelly blanket she'd slept under and walked briskly into the room. She was surprised when she saw Sarutobi Asuma running _out_ with his hands covering his head. Kurenai was settled on the bed with her hands on her face, sobbing. She had on nothing but her underwear. Hinata walked up to her, being sure not to stab her bare, soft feet on the glass. Kurenai's breasts had awful teeth marks all over them, and her one of her nipples were bleeding. There were purple bruises all over her neck and shoulders and her lips were split. Hinata wanted to cry. "Did he beat y-you up?" she whispered, her hand reaching out to touch the woman's bright red clavicle.

"W-What happened?" she pressed. "Are you o-okay?" Kurenai did not answer. She caught Hinata's hand and raised it to her swollen lips to kiss each fingertip. "Oh, you're beautiful," she slurred.

Hinata frowned. "Stop that," she said seriously without her nervous stutter. "I want my mother."

Kurenai tossed her head back and laughed, pressing Hinata's hand under one of her breasts where her heart was. She leaned in close and kissed her nose. "Do you feel that beating? It means that I love you. Feel!" she pressed it closer, harder. Hinata felt her eyes water. Kurenai's skin was ice. "Oh, it's getting faster. You see, when a heart gets fast, it means its feeling something—something beautiful." Her eyes darkened. "Your mother's heart does not beat this way." Hinata blinked. "What?"

"It only beats for Hiashi. When he's not around, her heart is just…dead _fucking_ weight in her chest. You'll see!" She was drunk. "Kanae doesn't love you like I do, Hinata. _I'll_ be your mother. God, you're a beautiful girl…" When she tried to kiss her again, Hinata scrambled off the bed and backed into the corner of the room, her hands over her mouth. No. Kurenai was lying. She didn't know _anything_ about what Okaa-san felt. "Hinata," she whined. "Come _touch_ me. Please? Will you touch me?"

"_Take_ me home!" Hinata cried, banging her fists against the wall behind her. Kurenai tipped her head. "I think I hate men now," she mumbled. "Bunch of lying bastards, they are. Don't you _ever_trust a man, Hinata. They just eat away until there's nothing left but the bone, and then they move on to the next course." And then Kurenai began to cry again, begging Hinata to come touch her. She wouldn't get up from her spot, however, until Kurenai finally sobered up and came back to life, got their bags from downstairs where a man and woman were having feverish sex on a table and left for home. Hinata cried the whole way there.

She did not even get to touch the waters of the ocean.

* * *

Hinata was not quiet about what had transpired at the non-hotel. When she first saw her mother, sitting in a lawn chair with her black hair in her face and her eyes focused on a magazine, she wanted to spit on her. But she was ecstatic to be back at home where things made sense, and as soon as Kurenai went into the kitchen to get a few drinks, Hinata spilled her soul. Okaa-san was furious. She got up out of the chair and marched into the house, her eyes glossed with tears. Kurenai was holding two lemonades and bottled water, and Okaa-san smacked her across the cheek, sending the drinks flying to the floor. Hinata gasped, stepping back and covering her eyes. "You filthy, _rotten_ whore! You dirty _bitch_! You took my daughter to your fucking stripping-prostitute joint, did you? I could kill you!"

Kurenai wiped her wet face and surprisingly did not strike Okaa-san back. "You left her in my care."

"I didn't think you'd be a fucking asshole about it! How could you? She's barely seven!"

"You're the _bitch_ who dumps her on an ex-prostitute so you could fuck a man that doesn't give two shits about you! How long was he here, Kanae? A day? Congrats; you're just as evil as me." She wrung out her hair. Okaa-san slapped her again. "You fucking put your hands on my daughter and told her to _touch you_! What the fuck? And you had some strange, awful man threatening her! You are sick; you fucking practically _molested_ Hinata!" Kurenai bit her lip hard when she touched her bruised face.

"You're fired," Okaa-san spat. Kurenai rolled her eyes and walked to the table to pick up her purse, slinging it over her shoulder and throwing back her wet black hair. "I'll guess I'll go back to what I do best," she mumbled, straining her gaze on Okaa-san and then onto Hinata, who buried herself into her mother's soft white calves. She smiled, sickeningly sweet, and pursed her lips. "See ya," she said. Hinata, at that particular moment, never really knew who she was talking to; her or Okaa-san? The ex-nanny briskly exited the kitchen and then the house. Okaa-san dropped down onto the floor and her daughter came tumbling down with her, their dark hair falling over their shoulders. Okaa-san began to cry, her lips trembling as she held onto Hinata's hand and began to mumble.

"Okaa-chan?" Hinata whispered. Oh, no. Was she relapsing back into her self-pitying phase? Okaa-san lifted her head up high and gave a heart-wrenching smile. "We have to leave, honey."

"W-What? Why? To where?" Hinata's heart was racing. Okaa-san's tears were rivers now. "I don't know, love. I just don't know." She wove her hands through her hair, pulling it out of her eyes. Hinata was confused. She had left with Kurenai in order for her mother to _supposedly_ spend time Hyūga Hiashi. She had gotten a wonderful letter from him, and he had _supposedly_ come to the house, and now they suddenly had to leave? It wasn't adding up. "Why?" she asked again. Okaa-san looked at her through her tears. "Well, baby. Ah, your otou-sama…is having a hard time getting the money for the mortgage, so…we have to go. But it's alright! We'll get another house—a better house—all too soon, you'll see." She swiped the upturned, slightly freckled tip of her nose and then tapped her daughter's straight, thin one. "You look like Hiashi," she gasped, and once again the tears were rolling. Hinata didn't cry. She was tired of crying. Instead, she simply tossed her head back so that she couldn't look at her mother and closed Hiashi's gray eyes, put her hands over Hiashi's pointed ears, scrunched Hiashi's perfect nose, and felt his forehead tighten as well. But _her_ lips. Her pink-red mouth stayed the same shape it had been in since that morning; pulled down into a frown.

She wasn't all Hiashi. Her mouth was Kanae's.

Three days passed in which they began to prepare their things to leave, and Hinata came to one conclusion during one of the most critical times in her young life.

Okaa-san's parents hated her. After they had packed their clothes into various suitcases and Okaa-san had signed some papers to give to an important looking man, they got into their small silver car to see what the grandparents could do for them. They lived in the busy town, smack dab in the middle of two candy stores. Hinata didn't very much like it. She was used to the quiet of the country; the solitude is what put her to sleep every night.

When Okaa-san had knocked on the crème' colored door, an old woman that looked like a shriveled, short version of her opened it and immediately frowned. "Kaa-san…" Okaa-san had said. The woman sighed deeply, stringing her fingers through short, choppy brown hair. "Oh, Kanae. What…What _are you doing here_?" she seethed. She then looked down at Okaa-san's side, where Hinata was clutching her hip tightly.

"Is that—?"

"My daughter," Okaa-san finished.

"Get out of here."

"Okimi? Who's at the door?" An older man came out from the back. "No," he said once his eyes landed on Hinata's mother. He shook his head and walked back into the room he came from. "Get out, Kanae! Your unholy antics bring dishonor to our family," he wheezed. "You disgust me."

Okaa-san's nostrils flared a bit as her grip on Hinata's hand tightened considerably. "Kaa-san," she whispered angrily. Hinata hugged her mother tighter, leaving nail marks under her shirt, on her hip and stomach. She raised her arms up and her mother lifted her, smothering her little head into her bosom. The woman called Okimi let out a strained cry and slowly shut the door in Okaa-san and her daughter's faces.

* * *

She listened to the rain pitter-patter against the tin cups that she'd placed under the roof to keep the floor from turning into a pond. Her legs, much longer now, were pulled up at her chest and crossed at the ankles, pale white hands holding them there in place. Everything about her face seemed much sharper. The baby fat from that of a seven-year-old had melted away, leaving sharp cheeks and an elegant brow. Her mouth had gotten fuller, lips pouty and pink, while she no longer contained a short torso and a flat chest. Her hair was way too long, growing out pass her bottom and her bangs—both the front and the side ones—were getting rather irritating. She was planning on chopping all of it off with the rusted shears she'd found earlier that week.

The pretty little seven-year-old was now a _beautiful _eleven-year-old.

And, God, she _hated_ that word. All of them. Every single word that could describe someone good-looking was trash. If those words had a body she would spit on them. Her life had become a never-ending carousel ride; it went around and around and around, singing the same old tune. And she was about to vomit. After being kicked out of every hotel because of lack of money, she and the woman that used to be her mother settled in a small shack settled right by the blue ocean. Sometimes she liked to sit on the hot sand of the beach and watch the waves move back and forth. She never got into though, God, no. It was completely filthy. So many sailors—sometimes even from different countries—would dock their ships or boats on the nearby harbor and pay visits to Okaa-san. She would have to leave the shack while the sailor—sometimes two—would close themselves up in the room she and Okaa-san slept in for an hour or two.

She wasn't an idiot. The night at Hitomi Beach with Kurenai had awaked the part of her brain that didn't know what sex was. She knew what it sounded like to have sex and she _knew_ that that was what her mother had been doing for the past two years. A year before that, a man who called himself Kanji and nothing else came to give Okaa-san a proposition. She didn't know the details for she had not been in the room at the time, but she got the gist. Kanji would accept money from the sailors that came and greedily count it while they closed the door to the only bedroom. Every time that door closed, a piece of her heart broke off. The sailors would even talk to her once in awhile. They'd touch her hair and tell her she was beautiful; tell her they'd come back when was just a _smidge_ older.

She was tired of it.

She got up from her spot on the floor and wiped her forehead where some rain droplets had landed. She made a mission to talk to her mother since they had not spoken in a few weeks. Okaa-san had been paying more attention to Kanji lately.

"Okaa-san," she said when she opened the door. The name was sour on her tongue, almost foreign. Kanae would've sounded better leaving her lips. Her mother was sitting up in bed, staring into space with her rosary clutched tightly in between her fingers. She'd found it on the shores of the beach when they had first arrived there. It was made of some kind of black marble—obsidian glass. There were also little tiny emeralds, rubies, and sapphires on it. All in all, the rosary looked rather valuable. She was rubbing it in her red hands and mumbling, playing with the thick satin ribbon that it bore around the ends, tied together in small bows. She coughed and held the cool stone on her face, whispering words that were not coherent. Her daughter sighed. Okaa-san laid her head back and closed her eyes. "What is it, Hinata?" she croaked. Hinata had forgotten what her name sounded like for a second. She blinked and wiped her lips. "You s-should go to the doctor."

Okaa-san looked horrid. Her waist was abnormally thin and her scent was sickly. She coughed like someone was squeezing her lungs in an iron grip and her eyes and cheeks were puffy and swollen. She had thin, pink scars down her sagging face that ran down her arms and legs in quick, sharp lines. And her eyes. Hinata could only describe them as completely hollow. Her mother was the very embodiment of death. Hinata cringed at the thought and walked to the bed to lie down beside her. She was still staring up with half-lidded eyes, seemingly trying to morph her rosary into her for she held it so tightly. Hinata sniffed. Okaa-san sneezed. "Tell me a story, honey," she whispered, her vocal cords torn to pieces because of her late night screaming. "What kind of story?"

"Any kind, love. I'm very tired."

Hinata nodded and began to make up a fairytale in her head about a princess that lost everything, but then met a fabulous prince who asked for her hand in marriage and then they lived happily. She was so deeply engorged in her imagination that she didn't hear her mother whisper two words that would've meant the world to her; the two words that she always wanted her to say. She didn't feel her mother's trembling hand close around her arm or the way her chest heaved up and down before collapsing. Only when she heard a strangled puff of last breath did she stop talking. "Okaa-san?" she asked. But Okaa-san didn't respond. She wasn't breathing. Her daughter's story hadn't entranced her into a deep, opened-eye sleep. No. She was dead.

Hinata was at first completely startled, and then realization sunk in deep and she went near half mad. "_Okaa-san_! What is it? Iie, iie_, iie_! _Onegai_, Okaa-san, _don't die_!" she cried, placing her head in between her mother's cold bosom. "I'll be a good girl! I won't be in the way anymore. _Please_, Okaa-chan, you can't leave me! _You can't leave me_! Don't go!" She snatched the rosary out of her mother's freezing hands and put her ear on her her skin, listening attentively for a heartbeat, for something beautiful, before Kanji ran quickly into the room. "Hinata!" he shouted. His eyes landed on Okaa-san who had turned a deadly blue hue. She screamed at him to go away and looked down at her mother. She saw the way her forehead was creased and how her earlobes were a little big. She saw the awkwardness of her upturned, black freckled nose and the way her hair fell in choppy cuts around her. She saw the weird slope of her chin and the too-pointed cheek bones, the deep clavicle and the pasty skin. She saw the short eyelashes and the wrinkled lids. And under them, she saw the strange colored eyes that no one could name the color of. They were not brown, blue, green, hazel, or grey, and no mixture. They were black; solid, haunting black. And that was when Hinata noticed finally noticed it, with tears falling from her eyes.

Her mother had never really been that pretty.

"_No!"_

She fell onto her and clutched at her arms, nails digging into the sagging flesh. Her tears were burning her now raw cheeks and she tried to _choke_ Kanji when he attempted to pry her from Okaa-san. She was screaming, banging her head against his broad chest while he looked for a garbage bag. She looked up at him, scowling darkly at his frazzled red hair and fat face, and the truth hit her like a thousand bricks. She was all alone. "Ah, what am I going to do with a kid?" Kanji sighed. Hinata panicked. "Kanji-oji-san…I c-can stay wi-with you! Y-You can be m-m-my father!" Where on earth was Hyūga Hiashi?

"No, Hinata. But _I_ know where you can go." Her heart hammered. She looked down and saw that she was still holding the black rosary. She fell to her knees and sobbed into the obscure marble. "W-Where?" she choked. He smirked and it gave her chills. "We're going to town." She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and let her long bangs blind her eyes. They persuaded a group of men at the dock to get them to the inner city and arrived at a very large building with flashing lights and a decorative picture of a small girl with a swimsuit, followed by a half-naked woman with flowing bronze-colored hair. Kanji entered the lobby and a petite woman was standing at the desk with a pen in her hand. Her mouth was slightly agape, a look of miniature anger pinching her brow. "Uh, mister? Are you sure you're in the right place?" she practically seethed. It was dark and Hinata clung to Kanji's shirt like her life was on the line. "Yeah, I was told a pretty little girl like Hinata here would fit in nicely!" He was pissed drunk. Hinata could smell it on his breath now that she was so close to him. The woman sighed. "Bring her in. But, dammit, I warn you; you're doing the _wrong_ thing…" Kanji didn't even seem to hear her.

Hinata gulped.

The three went up to a room where another woman was sorting all kinds of makeup. Kanji put Hinata beside him and the black-haired woman sat down in a chair. "Hi, my name's Shizune. Yours?"

"H-Hinata."

"Hm, you're so pretty. Ichiko-san, let's make Hinata-chan look nice." Ichiko, a woman with large blue eyes and orange hair, nodded and escorted Hinata to a fancy bathroom. The whole room was porcelain and she was awe struck at how pretty it was. After a bath, a new silky dress, and tons of makeup added to her face, Hinata appeared to be a geisha. "Come this way," Ichiko said softly. Nodding and moving hair out of her eyes, Hinata followed her to another room where many men and Kanji were standing, gripping the rosary. It was taking everything in her not to curl in fetal position and sob her guts out. Ichiko quickly ran out of the room. Hinata frowned and Kanji waved to her. The men turned and smiled.

"Well, you've got her!" exclaimed Kanji, laughing. "Where's my motherfuckin' money?" One man, that had not turned yet, snapped his pale fingers. At once, all the men gathered around Kanji and strangled him with a black cord. Hinata, still standing in the doorway, screamed. The men stopped and backed away from him. His mangled body was left on the floor, blood pooling around his head. With another harsh snap, they grabbed his over-weight form and dragged him out the room.

When everyone was gone, and Hinata was left on the floor in a state of permanent shock, the pale man knelt down in front her. "Why, hello there." His face was white, purple markings were painted by his liquid gold eyes, his hair was long and black, and when he spoke, his voice reminded her of a snake's warning hiss.

Hinata was terrified.

He smiled at her. "You, my dear, are much too pretty for paint." He began to wipe all the makeup from her face, before lifting her up and placing her on a large bed with black silk sheets near a window. Hinata looked around herself frantically, every limb attached to her body trembling with fear. She was sure that the snake-man was going to swallow her whole like they did the rats and birds that she used to watch on the television at home. He put a cold hand underneath her bangs and swept them up, exposing her whole face. At the skin-to-skin contact, Hinata squirmed and released a blood-curdling scream. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Her hands pushed his away, her throat raw from shrieking. The man scowled and slapped her cheek, sending waves of pain through her entire face and making her eyes sting with tears. She had been hit in the face twice now. The memory burned her skull.

"You're so beautiful… a tenshi…"

Hinata wrapped her arms around herself as he began to unbutton his shirt. She backed away, but her hand slipped on the silk sheets. She fell right onto her back, legs spread. The man held her small feet in place and grinned down at her. "That's it…you'll be my beautiful little tenshi, my little angel…" She screwed her eyes shut when he tugged at her dress, running his fingertips over her inner thighs and licking her cheek. But she couldn't fight him off. "You can call me Orochimaru, Tenshi."

From that moment on, life had officially stopped, and she had been tossed one hundred feet into the deepest pits of hell.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading.**


	2. 01: Undone

**Forever **by **Chris Brown**

* * *

_Girl, where did you come from?  
__Got me so undone._

**.01.  
****you're so pretty and pale**

"He was _my _customer!"

"Well, why'd he come to _my room_?"

Tenshi listened to the arguing going back and forth outside of her room. She picked up a few articles of scattered clothing that had been tossed off and forgotten the night before, her nose scrunching. Where were the _maids_? She reached to snatch a nice-looking watch that the person must've left when a loud _thud_ made her cringe.

She sighed. Tenten and Ino were always like this. When they weren't arguing over certain customers, it was over clothes, shoes, underwear, and even food. Tenshi slowly shook her head and bent to retrieve the rest of the discarded clothing, huffing when she had to continuously pull her dark hair behind her ears. It had gotten so long that it ended at the curve of her bottom, her bangs slightly passing her eyebrows. She was never allowed to cut too much of it.

When her floor was clean and the crème colored carpet could be seen again, she walked over to her large bed and lay spread-eagle on the dark, crimson satin sheets. As she began to curl into herself, her elegant, arched brows furrowed. It was hard to sleep during the day. It reminded her of much worse times when she was only living in fear with her captor, afraid to close her eyes because she never knew what he might do to her.

She could still feel every burning kiss, every stinging caress, and every harsh whisper. The touch of sin can never really be washed away. In fact, whenever she bathed the residue of blood, dirt, and sweat pooled into the bottom of the tub.

She was disgusting.

She climbed off her bed and ran to her mahogany wardrobe, pulling open the hard doors. There were three large drawers at the bottom, and she yanked the one in the middle open. Her lingerie stared back at her, the plethora of colors blinding her silver eyes.

She sneered and reached for the outfit lying on top, a skimpy thong and bra, tracing her manicured fingers across the soft material

It was white.

That was her color.

When she had turned thirteen, Orochimaru had dressed her up like a little doll in an all white dress, smeared red rouge on her mouth, and pinned her hair up like a princess. He made her sit down with her legs crossed, and let men come in—teenagers mostly—and have their way with her. When they were done, he'd dress her up all over again.

Even when she cried and screamed and fought and complained that they were making her privates hurt, the boys never stopped. It only became rougher, harder, tearing up her loins from the inside. And she had been so little.

Tenshi had escaped that foul man's clutches by the time she was seventeen, fighting him to the tooth and nail.

He had taken everything that he could get out of her and drank it down with a smile.

At times, she thought she was going insane, thinking that maybe all her unfortunate experiences was just a dream…a very _long_ dream. And when she woke up, her mother would be lying beside her in bed with a wide grin on her lips, her dark hair fanned out around her, and her skin glowing a healthy pink. They would be together in their home, free and safe, without the knowledge of any evils. When she thought of evil, one name came to her mind.

Kurenai had been right about not trusting men.

Tenshi had realized this soon after she had been sold to the devil himself. It took her a while to figure out why her mother had been so sickly, but she had discovered it one night, when she was fifteen, and a boy that was a year older had come to do business with her. It was one of those rare times when her client was a not a dirty fifty-year-old man, but a beautiful young boy with hair like fire and cyan eyes. He had raked his fingers across her face and back, gripped parts of her body that made her gasp, and pushed all of his weight on her much smaller form.

And she could see Okaa-san.

Beautiful Okaa-san with the print-like scars on her gray face, the strange marks and gashes all over her body, the sagging skin, and the way she coughed as if she had coal shoved down her throat. It was all from being touched on the face too much, handled too roughly multiple times, and having too many people holding her down with their own bodies on numerous occasions.

Tenshi had finally realized they had been signs that the same thing would happen to her.

And the apple never falls far from the tree.

* * *

"Man, this stuff is heavy!"

"Just…_put _it on the counter, idiot!"

"Alright, you don't have to yell!"

"I'm not yelling!" Inuzuka Kiba _yelled_ to the top of his lungs. He ran his fingers through his dark brown, disheveled locks, clicking his tongue at the roof of his mouth, before mumbling something under his breath. His diamond-cut eyes stared at the broken sink in his older sister's house that was spewing water everywhere. Frowning, he roughly hit the head of the faucet to make the water stop. He didn't know why he let Hana coax him and his friend into fixing it, but he did.

Uzumaki Naruto turned to Kiba and blinked. "So. How much is your sister paying us?"

"She's not."

"How come?"

Kiba groaned. "It had to do with me being her 'sweet, sweet baby brother who would do anything for her' or something like that." He slapped his forehead. "_Fuck_ me."

Naruto broke out into a cackle of laughter. His white teeth contrasted beautifully against his sun-kissed skin, his blonde-hair-blue-eyed looks adding to his handsomeness. Kiba growled. He too possessed equally tanned flesh, with dark eyes and hair. His features were a bit wolfish; wild. Once seeing Naruto's smiling face, he slipped a toothy grin.

"You idiot…"

Naruto beamed. "I brought the box of tools in, so I guess I'm off!" He grinned, looking at Kiba, before balling his hand into a fist, holding it out. "Knuckle touch!"

Kiba looked at him, then his hand, and repeated the process three times, before he finally agreed.

The blonde smirked, shaking his head a bit to get the air to cool it off. "So, are we fixing it tomorrow?"

"Yeah. And you better not pussy out," Kiba said, light punching Naruto's arm.

"I won't!"

They walked outside and sat on the porch of the quiet neighborhood. It was a large, though fairly quaint place, and children were running around chasing each other. Naruto was so engrossed in looking at the cute kids play, that he didn't notice Kiba's mouth hanging open in disbelief, his eyes as wide as saucers. Naruto mumbled his name, and then turned his head left and right until, finally, he saw it. His mouth went dry, his tongue heavy. Sweat formed on his brow and his eyes bulged out of their sockets.

There, walking towards them was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. Her long indigo hair was tied in a thick braid with loose strands curling around her pale, milky face. Her hands were clasped behind her and she had on a black dress with thin straps. She narrowed her eyes a bit as the sun bounced off her porcelain skin.

Her irises were almost amethyst and glittered like wet drops of dew in the morning sun.

Naruto gulped the saliva down his dry throat.

She walked right passed him, and their eyes connected for half a second. There was a tall man beside her little body, his arm draped across her shoulder. His brown hair was on the verge of tickling his lower waist and his dark grey eyes glared at the two other men, a scowl on his face. Naruto almost flinched, but instead, guided his gaze over to the petite woman. He watched her walk away, and when she was completely out of sight, he let go of the breath he was unconsciously holding. "Who…who was _that_?"

Kiba chuckled and patted Naruto's strong back. "Don't worry about it."

"Iie! Tell me."

Kiba sighed inwardly and pulled him aside. "Her name is Tenshi. She's a…prostitute working at that big brothel called Red…fuck, Red-_something_… Anyway, it's a long way away from here. What were they doing?"

_Prostitute? Her? _"Really?" Naruto questioned, beyond shocked. "Who was that man next to her?"

The Inuzuka snorted. "Shit, hell if I know! Probably her body guard or something…" He put a tanned finger to his hairless chin, tapping it a few times.

"Body guard?" Naruto mumbled.

"Hell yeah! Tenshi's pretty popular around here. If she came out without anybody, someone would rape her in a dark alley. Yep. She's the best one at the brothel; the reason it's still in business actually…" Kiba nodded and glanced down.

"Wow…"

"Ugh."

"Does she walk by here often?"

"No, never—not in this kind of neighborhood."

"Hmm…"

"_Listen, son—I want you to find that girl for you. And when you do find her, hold her, love her, and never let her go. I want you to be happy…with someone you love. Promise me, Naruto. Promise me you'll be happy…"_

_I promise. _"That's sad."

"What is?"

"I wanna help her…"

Kiba blanched. "Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, she didn't look happy. She's way too beautiful to be prostituting herself. Kami-sama, she's like an angel!" He threw his arms up for emphasis.

Kiba blinked. "Hence, the name_ Tenshi_."

"I wish I could get her out." He pouted, leaning his elbows on his knees and placing his cheeks on the balls of his palms. "Geez, don't _cry_," Kiba teased. Naruto glared and stuck his lower lip out.

"Aw, damn it all to hell! See her tomorrow!"

"Demo, tomorrow is when we fix the sink."

"I know!"

"Kiba…"

"C'mon! You said you like her; now all you gotta do is get your name in one of those drawing hats. Besides, Hana's stupid sink can wait. I didn't wanna fix it anyway."

"You said 'hat'. What do you mean?"

"Well, to see the girls, you have to sign some papers and put your name in this huge hat. Then, the lady that draws the names, I guess, picks out five or six names and then sends them to the rooms they wanna go to. See?" Kiba explained.

Naruto's left eye twitched. "You mean there's only a _slim_ chance I'll even _see _her?"

"Oi! I can take back the damn proposition!"

"Iie!"

"Then shut the hell up and stop complaining! You act like you're so sure of yourself; _maybe_ your name _will_ get pulled!"

"Wait! How do even know all of this? Have you…?" Naruto held out his hand and rolled it, raising his eyebrows and wriggling them.

"No, baka. Shikamaru and Choji have though. They told me about it."

"_Nani?"_

"I know! I mean, they have no idea what kind of _diseases_ those girls—"

"Choji?" Naruto interrupted, running his hands through his hair. "I can see Shikamaru doing _it_, but _Choji_? Kami-sama!" he laughed.

Kiba blinked and blanched. "You _idiot_…"

"Hmm? What I do?"

"Ugh!"

* * *

Tenshi slipped out of her black dress, folded it neatly, and then set it in her large mahogany dresser. She snatched the hair band from her inky locks and felt the silky pieces fall over her shoulders and tumble down her back. She sighed, taking a pale, petite hand and shaking her hair out.

Then, in nothing but her underwear and bra, she waltzed over to her window and peeled back the lace curtains, frowning when blackness stared back at her. _It's night time? _She hadn't noticed. Anxiously biting her lip, she absently twisted her fingers in each other. She wasn't _nervous_—no—but every time they had customers come in she would always wonder what they'd ask her to _do_.

From performing fellatio to being asked to just sit and look sexy, she had done it all.

But that didn't mean she still wasn't _iffy_ about it.

She had once before been taught that the body should be considered a temple because God gave it to you. But she was a harlot, so was the body a temple then?

Tenshi gently brushed her fingers over her arms and legs. If this body was hers, why did everyone use it like it was _theirs_?

She angrily jerked the curtains back together and stormed over to her mirror, which stood straight by her porcelain bathroom. She gazed apathetically at her form; she'd developed a little too early—one of the reasons Orochimaru had liked her so much. She was also getting a little too thin for her taste, but the boss, Tsunadae, had told her men _liked_ that.

Men.

She hated them…all of them. They were all the same.

Snarling at her own reflection, Tenshi put on a black thong and a short, see-through night gown.

"Five minutes, Tenshi-chan," Tenten said when she opened her door without knocking.

"Oh, okay, thanks…"

Tenten gave a warm smile, a smile almost as warm as her chocolaty eyes, before softly closing the door.

Tenshi sat down on her bed and smoothed the sheets back a bit. She took her black rosary from under her pillow and traced the intricate shape of the many jewels, marveling at its beauty. It was almost like her mother; beautiful on the outside, but closer inspection and one could see straight through the glass. _Hah. _She put the beaded little thing in her bra and lay back on her bed, waiting to hear the noise she dreaded so much. The knocks. Those God-forsaken knocks. It was like a different demon coming to visit her every night because she was, technically, in hell. Well, she figured she was going there anyway.

Perhaps fate was just preparing her for it.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she got up and decided to light a few candles. The scent comforted her when the smell of sweat (sometimes blood) and sex made her nauseated. The candles also illuminated her room in a small, pretty light and she enjoyed the sight of it. She sighed and grabbed a rather decorative green candle from her bookshelf, using a match she'd found in Ino's room earlier that week. The wick instantly caught the flame and she lit a few more before a small knock was heard at the door.

"Fuck," she cursed, setting a black candle down on her dresser. Her hands were hesitant as she gripped the slick door knob, turning it ever so slightly. Finally, she breathed deep, and cracked the door, putting on the façade needed to attract the customer. "Hello," she said sweetly, opening the door fully and stepping back.

The man that entered—he looked to be about eighteen—had dark hair and green eyes. He nervously rubbed the back of his pale neck, idly standing in the same spot, glancing swiftly across her room.

"What's the matter, oji-san?" Tenshi purred, hooking her thin, nimble fingers in the belt loops of his jeans. She pulled him towards her body and blinked her silver eyes.

She was only treating him so nicely because he was actually good-looking.

She appreciated that in people.

"Um…" he mumbled, a cherry red blush scurrying across his face. She continued tugging him forward until the back of her knees hit the bed. His hands instinctively wrapped around her waist. "Ano, wh-what do you want to do?"

Tenshi, smirking, purposely toppled them over so the young man was lying right on top of her. His handsome face turned even redder at this, but he leaned his head down until their noses brushed. Then, boldly, he began inching up her little black gown. For once, she was ready to spend thirty minutes with this man—each customer only got a half hour.

She grinned. "We can do whatever you want to do, oji-san…"

* * *

Naruto whistled low as he stared up at the large brothel. They were definitely making big money. The building was a soft caramel color with mahogany double-doors and glass making up the inside of the doors. There was also the kanji, "Red Heart"in gold paint on the glass. It looked more like a five star hotel than a brothel. He sucked in a breath before he walked in through the heavy doors, a small smile on his face. He just wanted to talk to Tenshi; to see her angelic face one more time. When he had taken three steps into the place, he had to stop.

There were so many men—and the occasional woman—shrouded up in, what appeared to be, the lobby. Naruto paled, but tried to make his way through the throng of people.

The whole room smelled of sweet maple, the floor was a white carpet; the kind that feet sink into when stepped on. There were some drawings of women hanging on the walls, oil-painted, extravagant, and certainly beautiful. One portrait was hanging on the arch of the entry way. The girl had dark hair and wore a red outfit, her mouth an even redder hue. Her eyes were closed, framed by long, black lashes. Naruto gulped. She looked like Tenshi.

"Next!"

His head whipped to his side at the loud, strong voice. "You," she said, pointing a finger at him. Her nails were a ruby color. _"Me?" _Naruto mouthed, balling up his fingers and sticking his thumb into his chest. The woman nodded eagerly, taking her finger and curling it to motion him to her.

"You're next in line, honey."

Oh.

He must've been so intrigued at the décor of the place that the string of people had actually diminished. He walked up to the woman, immediately noticing how her peach mouth caught up in a smirk. "Who are you here to see?" she asked with a pen in her hand and small piece of paper on the desk she was sitting at. "Er, Tenshi, ma'am." The woman glanced at him. "Tenshi, huh? Of course. Name, please?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." _Geez… _He scratched his head, feeling heat run up his neck.

"Heh, she'll love you," the woman muttered as she swished one blonde pigtail over her shoulder. Her pretty honey eyes bore into his with curiosity.

_I hope so._

She took the strip of paper with his name on it and dropped it in a large black hat. _Kiba wasn't lying. _"In an hour I'll pull the names. You just might get chosen."

"An _hour_?" Naruto's jaw hit the soft carpeted floor.

"Yes. An _hour_."

"D-Demo…why so _long_?" he droned, pouting.

"There are already people in rooms and many others waiting. But don't worry." She grinned. "You just _might_ get chosen," she repeated.

The pretty blonde then held out her hand.

He looked at her in question, before "Oh!" escaped his lips. Digging into his pocket, he fished out his money and gave her the appropriate amount.

Huh.

Everyone had to pay even though everyone wasn't going to get a go with the girls. That's how the brothel was making money.

Smart.

"You can sit over there, sweetheart," she said, lazily pointing that same finger behind him.

Naruto quirked his mouth and nodded, heading over to a plush chair in the waiting room. Other men were sitting down, wringing their hands and sweating, nervous. There were chairs and couches spread everywhere so everyone could have some place to sit. Newspapers rested on tables and after forty-five minutes, he picked up one to pass the other fifteen.

Nothing much was headlined, except the disappearances of three little girls.

He shook his head.

Nakajima Riku, Kuroki Hisano, and Tanaka Yoko had been missing for two whole weeks. The children were young; seven, five, and three. The police suspected the kidnappings were done by the same person. Naruto was about to start reading about them and their families, when the blonde woman stood up in her chair and shook the hat full of names.

His blue gaze automatically snapped up to her.

"I'm about to pull the six names," she announced, digging her hand into the hat's ebony depths. Naruto's heart began drumming quickly in his chest.

"_Promise me, Naruto…"_

_Please, please, please, I just wanna see her one more time…_

The woman came to stand in front of everyone, the hat in her hand. She pulled out the first names. "Abe Maru, Kimura Ken, Kobayashi Botan…"

His stomach clenched.

"Suzuki Jiro, Yamazaki Akeno…"

_Come on, damn it!_

"And Uzumaki Naruto."

_Yes!_

Grinning, Naruto scurried up to the blonde woman. "Up the stairs, northern wing, fifth door on the right," she instructed, pointing again. "Told you you'd get picked."

* * *

Tenshi watched as the man pulled on his pants and winked at her, before quickly darting out of her room. She sighed, rolled her eyes and closed the door, seeing as how he neglected to do so. When she heard the satisfying clicking noise, her tense body relaxed. That man had been a bore and he wasn't cute either.

Major set back.

She rubbed her hand along her aching arms, relighting her candles for the sixth time that night. She skillfully combed her fingers through her long hair, straightening it to perfection.

Her rosary was still tucked away inside of her clothes, causing quite an uncomfortable feeling, but she felt the thing protected her. Her legs began to feel numb, so she situated herself on the bed, opposite of her doorway. The next man coming in would be the last for that night. The girls all had different shifts and rarely would anyone try to pull an all-nighter. Except Ino, of course. But she was on her monthly cycle and no one wanted to be around her during those times.

Snickering into one of her pillows, Tenshi rolled over on her back and felt sleep trying to take over. Her heavy lids drifted shut, but widened when two knocks were heard on the door. Too tired to get up, she half-heartily moaned, "Come in."

The door opened slowly, the footsteps never moving.

Her brows furrowed. Tenshi turned to face the intruder and sat up on the bed.

The man swallowed.

"Um…"

"Come in, oji-san. I don't bite."

He walked in further, the candles illuminating his face. Tenshi smirked. _I'll stand for this one. _He was very handsome, what with his golden hair and beautiful blue eyes. His tanned skin was flushed crimson. The pretty little harlot stood then, sashaying over to him. "Come sit with me," she persuaded, clutching his hand.

"O-Oh, er, iie, wait."

"Excuse me?"

"I had to ask you something…"

"Yes?" She was smashed up against him.

He softly grabbed her arms and pushed her back a bit. Her face contorted into a confused expression. "I didn't come here for that."

"Nani?"

"I just came to…to see you. Talk to you."

"To 'see' me? What d'you mean by that, huh?" No one had ever told her that before. Her red lips pursed in irritation. However, the man just stood in front of her, a red blush across his nose, his eyes casting down and then back up at her continuously." Tell me," Tenshi said. "What's your name?" He smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

She was barley nineteen.

She slid her hands down his chest while he took in her little outfit. Her thin nightgown allowed him to see her tiny black thong, the small cleft between her legs, and the outlines of her breasts.

She bit her lip and imagined what his body would feel like under hers. She could tell by his hands that he was strong and muscled everywhere else.

But she knew the pretty boys were always the first ones to break a heart or torture a soul. Hyūga Hiashi was the perfect example. He didn't _love_ Okaa-san and he _most certainly_ did _not_ love her. Tenshi licked her lips. "I don't understand," she said innocently, wrapping her arms around his warm neck. Naruto bore a panicked look, not knowing what he should do. He wanted to get to know this poor girl. He wanted to talk to her, give her a proposition.

She kissed his neck and he began to doubt his control.

"_Naruto, find her. Never let go."_

His fists clenched. He had made a promise to someone very important to him, and Tenshi was the key behind that stupid locked door. He needed her. Unballing his hands, he decided to rest them at the small of her back. "What do you say? Will you talk to me?" Tenshi scoffed. "Talk about what, oji-san? You paid money to get here, didn't you? This isn't a place to pour out your feelings to someone who's gonna give a flying fuck," she spat, running her fingers down his chest again.

_Oh, baby. Can we sit down now? Kami-sama, my legs are killing me._

He smiled. "How long have you…been here?"

"Why?" Her mouth kissed his chin.

"Listen, Tenshi, I…" He stopped speaking, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, shaking that blonde head of his. "I came here because…ano, I think you need some help."

"Excuse me?" Her nails subconsciously dug into his biceps.

"Iie! I-I just want to help you. Help you get out of here, that is. You're way too pretty—_beautiful_—to be doing this. Come with me. Please, let me help you," he whispered, his face only growing redder with each word he spoke. Tenshi, on the other hand, was in shock. How _dare _he come to her with this bullshit! Her hands were shaking out of anger as she leaned away from him.

"Have you lost your mind? I won't."

Naruto sunk deep into himself. "Demo…you don't understand… Onegai…come away with me!"

"Nani?"

"I can give you a better life than this! I can give you a home, a place where you can feel safe and free."

_Safe and free? _"Oji-san—"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he corrected. "Call me Naruto."

"_Uzumaki-san, _you sound really ridiculous right now. I'm not going anywhere with you." Tenshi flipped her long hair over her shoulder, casting her hazy orbs to her dresser.

Their bodies were still so close, their unique scents mixing. Naruto's forehead started to bead with sweat.

"Now, let's just forget about all that. Just let me give you what you paid for." Her lips found his neck once more, her hot tongue flicking out to taste the skin there. Naruto's head snapped back, the force knocking them to the bed, just like the young man from earlier.

But she was going to _really_ enjoy this.

Her legs wound around his waist, her arms tightened around his neck, her fingers fisted the cloth of his shirt. He had one arm around her and the other was gripping the side of her curvy hip. His heart was beating so fast, surely he could hear it. "Come on," she said, pulling at his clothes. "We don't have much time left."

Naruto's eyes glossed over with an emotion she couldn't read because she'd never seen it before.

"Come with me. I can get you out of here."

Tenshi stopped moving, frowning, and then touched his throat with the tip of her nose.

A knowing smile crossed his face as he lifted her chin and placed his forehead against hers. She didn't move, wanting to see what he'd do.

He kissed her.

It wasn't really a kiss, more of a brush to the lips, but it was so soft. The kisses she usually received were harsh and bruising. She caught his bottom lip in between her teeth and tried to do something more intimate, but he pulled away, kissing her cheek and making a path down to her neck where he sucked on her throbbing pulse until she moaned. "Run away with me," Naruto murmured against her skin. Her face paled, but it didn't quite faze her. She'd heard that too many times before. "You don't even _know _me," she muttered, holding his head down.

"I could get to know you." He licked the start of the valley between her breasts.

She groaned. "You wouldn't like me very much afterwards." Her hands traced the muscles under his clothes, her eyes fluttering closed. Her breath came out in short wisps as he nipped at her pink skin. "I don't want anything from you. The only thing I want from you is your body. I just want to fuck."

"What if I told you I wanted more?"

There was a long pause then, in which Tenshi untangled her body from his and pushed him up so that they were both now sitting straight up on the bed. She gazed up at him through her thick lashes, and then a smirk crawled to her delectable lips.

"I'd call you a liar."

"Tenshi—"

"It doesn't matter. Your time's up and I'm tired."

Her little orange bell that she had set thirty minutes earlier then rang.

"See?"

Naruto nodded sadly, but his eyes brightned.

He grabbed her hand. "I'll come back, I promise," he whispered, kissing it. Then he walked out of her door and didn't look back.

"Shit," she cursed, burying her head into her pillow.

_I really wanted to sleep with him._

Because in her mind, her tarnished, brainwashed little mind, that was all that had ever really mattered as soon as he walked through her door.


	3. 02: Love Game

**Love Game** by **Lady Gaga**

* * *

_Let's have some fun, this beat is sick,  
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick._

**.02.  
let's play a love game**

Tenshi stabbed her fork into the little rice ball on her plate, twirling the silver handle in between her thin fingers. Her mouth turned downwards at the look of it. Usually, she would've eaten everything the cooks had given her, but her appetite had decreased lately. She picked up her cup of tea and sipped it slightly, cringing at the bitter taste. She enjoyed her tea sweet.

"Stop it, Ino! You bitch!"

Tenshi's head slightly turned to her left, where she saw Tenten pulling a saucer away from Yamanaka Ino's pale hands.

"I want some!"

"Iie!"

"Hai!"

"What's the problem?" Sabaku Temari asked, getting up from her chair. She had been sitting at the head of the long table, while Ino, Tenten, and Tenshi had been sitting on the left side. She rolled her celadon eyes, pulling on Ino's platinum blonde ponytail. "You guys are arguing over _sake_?" Temari let out an aggravated huffing noise and snatched the tiny blue saucer from both their hands. "You girls are _impossible_."

Ino snorted. "That's _her_," she replied, jabbing her thumb into Tenten's direction.

Her brown eyes widened. "Whatever."

"Give it a rest," Shimohara Tayuya mumbled as she placed a warm kiss on Asahina Kin's perfectly manicured hand.

Tenshi scrunched up her button nose and turned her head, stands of ebony falling over her pale, exposed shoulders. Now she wasn't hungry at all. Tayuya and Kin's small demonstrations of love were absolutely appalling to her, but as long as neither one of them tried to touch her, she'd be on good terms with them. Kin was a lesbian, working in the east wing for the women that came into the brothel, and Tayuya was bisexual, so she worked in the southern wing. The northern wing was for the good prostitutes, like Tenshi herself, along with Ino, Tenten, and Temari. And last was the west wing, which was destined for those "other girls", in the words of Tsunade.

"I will _not_ give it rest!" Ino shouted, banging her fist down on the table.

"Ino-chan," a sever then approached her with a bottle and a pink saucer. "Would you like some more sake?"

"Oh, hai! Okay, girls, I'm over it now!"

Temari yanked her ponytail again. "You're such a bimbo."

"I know!" Ino, for some absurd reason, liked to make it known to everyone that she was a harlot working for Tsunade. She always wore short, skimpy things when she went out, and would sometimes even invite good looking men to come visit her, even if their wife or current girlfriend was standing right beside them. She was a very nonchalant girl—pretty, but mean. Her favorite color was pink, the reason why Duchess had gotten them sake cups of the chosen hue. Ino also specialized in working with the shy boys because they were easy to dominate.

"And she's a stupid bitch," Tenten mumbled, sipping from her blue cup. She had chestnut brown hair, wrapped in two buns on her head. She was strong-spirited, sweet, and a little rambunctious. She was a fighter—her muscle was proof—and liked her sex rough. Her father used to own a knifing business when she was a little girl, so she carried around this small pen knife in her pocket. It was a gray color, with cobalt blue kanji that read, _To My Dear Panda. _Tenshi was the only person she'd ever shown it to, and she guessed the nickname Panda had come from Tenten's hair.

"I am not!"

"Sike."

She and the blonde Yamanaka loved to argue, a façade that they used to show affection for one another.

Girls," Temari sighed as she placed her now empty green saucer to the side. Long black eyelashes shrouded her pretty eyes. Her hair had been tied up in four, spiky sandy blonde pigtails. She was a rather beautiful girl, but she had a sad past. Her younger brothers had been separated from her when she was eleven. Scared and alone, she had found refuge in this brothel, because the sex was the closet thing she was ever going to get to real love—the kind of love she held for her lost siblings. She was a dancer and performed in the banquet hall for the men on Saturday nights, spinning and twirling with intricately designed fans. Tenshi did feel sorry for her, but worse things could happen to an eleven-year-old girl. "For once, just be nice to each other!" Temari scolded Ino and Tenten.

Tenshi gave a coy smile, rolling her silver eyes. She brought her ivory—she winced—sake cup to her mouth, chugging the rest of it down. She hadn't even picked the color white as her favorite, but Tsunade said it _suited_ her. Disgusting. She stared at the pretty little cup, and then glanced up to take in the other girls' conversations, before she twirled her finger around the saucer's sleek, wet edges.

She then held the cup up above her head, and dropped it to the ground.

The corners of her mouth rose.

Clattering and clashing, the distinct sounds of china breaking echoed throughout everyone's ears. The sound of glass shattering was not as heart breaking as it used to be. It gave her a fucking rush ad made her skin prickle with excitement.

"Kami-sama, Tenshi-nee!" Ino screeched. "You okay?"

"Did it slip from your hands?" Tenten pondered, bending over to inspect her friend's fingers.

"It didn't slip, Ten. She dropped it on purpose." Temari grinned. That much was obvious.

"Why?"

Tenshi shrugged. "I got tired of looking at it." That was partly the truth.

"It was such a pretty cup," Kin mumbled.

"Yeah, it was alright. But guess what _I_ saw that was totally cute a few days ago!" Ino gushed, smiling widely.

"What?" Kin said.

"This boy—excuse me, _man_! He had blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes! He was in the lobby waiting, and I know 'cause I came down to, you know, give the boys a little _sneak_ _peak_ and—"

"Ino, honey? The story?"

"Oh, hai! Anyway, he was totally handsome, just sitting there, all sexy! Kami-sama, I practically had an orgasm just looking at him!" She began to fan herself.

"Wow! You think his name got picked?" Tenten questioned.

Ino shook her head. "Obviously not, because one of us would have told, duh!" She thumped her temple. "Unless… Oi, Tenshi…"

"I don't know what you're talking bout."

"You sure?"

One nod and they stopped questioning her.

"Who cares any damn way?" Kin cut in, tossing her incredibly long black hair behind her. "It's just a _guy_."

"Shut up! You wouldn't know anything about _guys_!" Tenten snarled.

Ino chuckled into her sake cup. "She probably gets more action than you…"

"You bitch! You're drunk! _Gimme_ that _cup_!"

"Are you _fucking_ nuts?"

"Ino, Tenten, _stop_!"

"All of you are just stupid sluts!"

Tenshi took a deep breath, sighed, and walked away from the table of screaming women. She took the directions to her bedroom, continuously running her hands through her hair and bangs. She then bit her red bottom lip. Her mind kept working, trying to process the little encounter that had occurred three days prior. The man—she couldn't remember his name—had promised he'd come, and yet, he was a no-show. She snorted. She had _known_ from the very beginning he was lying and he was, the bastard. If he wasn't going to come back, he could've at least agreed to fuck her! _Fuck him, _she thought bitterly as she entered her room and collapsed onto her bed.

But if he did come back…

She would have to tell Tenten the truth eventually. The girl was like her best friend. She would have to buckle down and really tell the whole truth. Tenshi rolled over on the bed and hugged a crimson pillow to her full endowed chest. If he did come back, she'd have another chance to get with him.

_The only good thing that could come out of this situation. _She tossed the pillow and sat up, swinging her legs off the edge of the bed. Night was already falling in the city of Rakuen, the sun setting, taking all the happiness with it.

"Selfish, greedy bastard," Tenshi cursed its brightness.

The moon would take its place next; the hauntingly, pale beautiful moon.

_You aren't beautiful._

She was about to take a small nap with her rosary, but three small knocks were heard at her door. "'The hell?" It couldn't have been a customer—it was too early, and Tsunade would not have knocked. Shrugging, she silently decided it must've been one of the girls, so she continued the rocking of her legs and said, "Come in." When the door opened, a man came in. His silver hair was in a short ponytail and he adjusted his glasses a little. Tenshi blanched. "Get the fuck out." Yakushi Kabuto—she _despised_ him. He shook his head, laughing and traced the creases on his purple scarf. "I don't think so," he said, moving closer. "What?" she spat venomously.

"I won't leave. Why, my dear, I only came to check on you. I see you're looking beautiful as ever," he said, coming closer. He took in the sight of the girl before him. Her green kimono was made of satin, holding white and black designs of glistening butterflies. The top half was pulled around her shoulders, exposing her collar bone, and much cleavage, the obi tied close under her breasts.

"You've checked. Leave."

Kabuto only gave a wide grin, one that sent chills down Tenshi's spine. He moved closer again, before plopping down next to her on the bed. Then, placing a cold hand on the skin of her leg that the kimono had slipped from, he smirked. "Don't touch me," she seethed, positioning herself away from him. Kabuto placed a hand to his mouth, using his middle finger to push up his glasses. "Oh, my. Someone's got a temper. You know, I could always tell Tsunade-sama that you haven't been _applying_ yourself. You know she'd believe anything I'd say."

He wasn't lying. He worked for Tsunade personally, giving her the heads up on whoever was slacking. Fourteen girls had lost their jobs because of him, and all because they refused to sleep with him. Tenshi would sometimes wonder of he was trying to get one of her friends fired.

Then she'd have to beat the shit out of him herself.

"You know that if I pay, you'll have to give me a go. I've waited too long."

"Sorry, fucker, I'm unavailable." And she crossed her legs tightly over the other as she said this.

The silver-haired man chuckled lightly. She was so cute when she was defiant.

"Oh, Tenshi, the things I'd—"

_Knock, knock, knock._

Tenshi slid her steely eyes over to the door, a thin smirk taking over her mouth. She cleared her throat for dramatic effect before she sang, "Come in." Kabuto scowled dangerously at her.

The door clicked and opened, and a brown-haired man entered soon after, carrying a white kimono in his hands. He gazed over the two people in front of him, before his dark silver eyes narrowed.

"Kabuto," he mumbled respectively. "Tsunade-sama would like to see you."

Kabuto sneered and tore his eyes from Neji, focusing on the beautiful girl sitting on the bed. "This isn't over, sweetheart. I'll come back."

"Go fuck yourself."

Another grin and he walked past Neji, heading out the door.

Tenshi rolled her eyes, pushing strands of dark hair behind her ears. She wandered into her own little world then, checking her nails and wondering if there was anymore sake downstairs and whether or not the girls were still arguing. Neji had to loudly clear his throat twice before she finally looked around. "Yes?" she answered in an almost annoyed manner.

He sighed and calmly walked over to the bed to sit next to her. His job in the brothel was to make sure everyone was getting dressed and setting up their rooms when it was time to work. He also went to pick up the outfits made by special tailors for the girls. This was only a part time job for him, however. He had more important things to do sometimes.

"Here." He handed Tenshi a kimono.

"What is this?"

"Your outfit for tonight. Tsunade-sama gave every girl in the northern wing a new one."

Tenshi splayed the silky piece of cloth across her lap. It was a milky white with lavender printed petals going down the stomach and back. Figures. "I hate it," she said, tossing it beside her. "You have to wear it," Neji mentioned.

She snarled.

He smirked.

"I don't like white." Her eyes glazed over. Neji swallowed and lifted his hand to smooth back her hair in a comforting matter, but she shrugged away from the touch.

"You're afraid of me." It wasn't a question.

She flinched. "I'm not afraid."

He moved his hand forward anyway, placing it on her soft mound of black hair. "I won't hurt you, Tenshi. I care for you." She leaned back, taking his hand off her head and placing it in between her breasts. She spread his fingers over her chest so that he could feel her slow, steady heartbeat."Do you feel that?" she whispered. Underneath the skin and muscle and bone her heart was silent. It never quickened its pace; it never showed something beautiful. It was dead weight in her chest, just like Kanae's was, and it would never be anything else. She didn't even need it, for Christ's sake. "I don't care for you at all," she told him, staring directly into his eyes. "I wouldn't mind sleeping with you though." Tenshi gave a sly grin when Neji pressed his large hand harder against her right breast. "Cute," he murmured, pulling away. "What would you say if I told you I didn't think of you that way?"

Tenshi nonchalantly shrugged.

"Right," Neji whispered.

Just like her, he was born out of wedlock, but his father had committed suicide and his mother died of a disease. From what she knew, Neji had no siblings and no other family, so Tsunade had given him his own place in the brothel. He appreciated her for that, so he took a job as an errand boy.

"Get dressed," he said to Tenshi, pulling his burning hand away and kissing her pale one.

"Alright."

They didn't speak of that moment again.

* * *

"_Shit_!" Kiba shouted, bringing his middle finger to his mouth. He shoved the long digit in between his teeth and sucked on it. The nail had almost come clean off. "Naruto, you bastard…"

The blonde looked up from his knife and grinned. "So this is my fault now?"

"Yes!"

Both men had agreed to help Kiba's older sister make a big, traditional dinner for her husband who had been on business for a week. Kiba hadn't been so lucky—the knife had nearly taken off the tip of his finger. His black eyes became wide when blood filled his mouth. "I don't even know why I'm helping Hana do this… And _you_! Why am _I_ helping _you_ win the heart of some whore?" Naruto put his knife down and adjusted the collar of his shirt. "She is not a whore," he defended. Kiba rolled his eyes. "She's slept with more than twenty men in the span of two days. Whore." He dug into his pocket, bringing out a bandage and neatly wrapping it around his injured finger. "Does she even like you?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm trying to convince her that I really can help."

"And?"

Naruto's lower lip jutted out and his aura seemed to darken. "She refused."

"Whore."

"Kiba!"

"What?"

"We don't know what she's been through! And you said that you would help! It's been a couple of days since I saw her… She probably thinks I'm lying about coming back…" He rubbed his forehead. "So I need you to convince Hana to let me stay with her a few more days." Naruto's nose scrunched at the foul smelling fish.

Kiba's mouth dropped. "I almost nicked my fucking finger off and you're still talkin' about Tenshi? And why don't you just stay at a hotel or somethin'?

"You should've been more careful, dumbass!" Naruto snatched his knife back up, chopping off a rather ugly fish's small head. "Hotels make me uncomfortable. Besides, Hana's place is so…homey." He picked it up, made a retching noise in his throat and dumped it into the garbage beside him. "Disgusting."

Kiba groaned, shoving his knife into the wood that the fish rested on. "Then why the hell—!"

"Inuzuka Kiba, if you say one more thing, I will bitch-slap you."

Kiba's mouth dropped…_again._

"_Why_ would you do that?"

"Because your mouth works faster than your brain!"

"Well, your brain doesn't work at all!"

They continued yelling, chopping fish, cutting skin (on Kiba's part).

When the job was over, it was already dusk.

Kiba stalked out of his sister's house with Naruto on his tail and sighed deeply. He scratched his wild brown head and smirked. "When are you gonna go get your girl?" Naruto looked at him and grinned. "Right about now, actually." He walked around the back where he'd parked his car. "Don't forget to ask Hana!" he shouted to Kiba on the way there.

"Yeah, yeah, asshole!"

Naruto laughed out loud and got into his vehicle, strapping on his seatbelt and driving the ten miles to the brothel. The road to Tenshi always seemed longer and longer each visit and he'd only been there once. When he finally arrived and stepped out the car, the building looked suddenly bigger, towering, and the woman Naruto wanted was right on the other side. He couldn't help but wonder if she was waiting on him, or thinking about him while she was with someone else.

And then he involuntarily shuddered.

He didn't want to imagine her with another man. _She's not yours yet._

His cell phone suddenly buzzed from inside of his pocket, startling him. He dug it out and flipped it open without checking the ID. "Moshi-moshi."

"_Naruto?"_

"Uh, yeah?"

"_You goin' in or are you just gonna stand there like a dumbass? No 'like' is the wrong word… You are a dumbass so figuratively speaking you aren't like anything if you _are_, so—"_

"Wait a second. Kiba? How did you know I was just standing—?"

"_I know you, ya chicken shit. Stop being a girl! Now what was I saying about my dumbass theory? Oh, yeah! Okay, see—"_

Kiba's pointless rambling was tuned out, however, as Naruto watched a man come out of the brothel. Another man approached him and they high-fived. "Tenshi was such a good fuck!" the thinnest one shouted. He could hear them even though they'd already crossed the street. The larger man pumped his fist. "Her pussy was so good! I'm comin' back tomorrow!"

"You ate her out?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Ah, score!"

Naruto's vision suddenly went red. All he wanted to do was pound those two bastards into the ground. _Fuck. _He'd never been angrier.

"…_and that would prove that you are indeed a dumbass!"_

"Kiba."

"_Yeah?"_

"I'll see you later."

"_Okay! Good luck with your whore!"_

Naruto clenched his teeth, but reminded himself that Kiba's stupidity usually got the best of him. He hurried into the brothel, wrenched open the heavy doors of the place, and pushed aside everyone so he could get by. The same blonde woman was sitting at the front desk and she curled her finger at him once more. He blinked before approaching her, and when he did, she gave a coy smile, twirling a strand of her golden hair. "Uzumaki, hai?"

"Hai."

"Of course, how could I forget your pretty face?"

He dipped his head in a "thank you". She nodded her own head. "Tenshi again?"

"Hai."

"How'd it go last time?" Her hazel gaze was penetrating and he flinched a little under it. He could tell her it was awful, that she hadn't accepted his advances or get away ideas, but he knew she was talking about sex. She was asking him whether or not they'd had good sex.

They didn't have sex.

So he lied.

"It was perfect."

The woman gave a wide grin. "Perfect," she repeated in a whisper. _I will increase her wages._

Once their small conversation was over, she held out her hand for her money. He gave her the right amount, then left to sit down in an empty chair. The brothel seemed more crowded than before. The room was louder and hotter, and the nervousness was leaking off everyone like a broken water pipe. Naruto, however, was not nervous this time. Although he had to wait almost two hours until the desk lady drew names, he was not impatient. He only wanted to tell Tenshi how much he did care for her. But if she wouldn't listen to his words, he'd be forced to use his actions. It seemed like she would enjoy that.

"Listen up!"

The drawings.

Naruto lifted his head from his palm, watching her wink her light eyes at him, and then grin widely. And when his name was called—the last name to be called—he was not at all surprised.

* * *

Tenshi was, in one word, _disappointed_.

The young man from three nights prior had not come back, and that had upset her in more ways than one. First, she was extremely angry. Not because she wanted to see him again, but because he had broken a promise. She hated people that broke promises. Second, she felt tricked. For a brief moment, she had thought that maybe, just maybe, he did care for her like he said. But he didn't. And third, she was sad. Not for the blonde, but because she wished she had killed herself when she had the chance two years ago.

But past was past, and she was a sucker for a cutie. Her own fault. She sighed deeply, smoothing out her white kimono. Tenten had barged into her room earlier that day, her purple kimono draped beautifully over her body.

While Tenshi's milky outfit came to her upper thigh and was cut off around the shoulders with long sleeves, Tenten's was long, one arm and shoulder exposed, while the other was covered.

Her dress was pretty.

And it wasn't white.

Tenshi fingered one of the lavender petals, and traced the jewels of her rosary that she'd hidden under her pillow. She wasn't tired at all, but when her eyelids became heavy, she almost let sleep overtake her. Almost.

_Knock, knock, knock._

She practically fell out of bed.

The taps to the door had startled her completely, but she shook off her shock and walked over to the door. Her hand rested on the door knob, like it did every time before she opened it. Her hair, which was tied in a high ponytail, began to tickle her back as she leaned in closer to the door. With her hand on its wood and one on the knob, she yanked it open, the wind blowing back her hair, and stared with semi-wide eyes at the person at the threshold.

She found herself smirking and stepping back, allowing him to come through.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Naruto turned to face her. Her hands were behind her back, her long legs crossed. "Why'd you come back?"

His brow furrowed. "I made a promise."

Tenshi licked her lips, nodded and sat on the bed. He followed suit and threw a grin in her direction. They stayed that way for a moment, just staring at each other. Tenshi placed her hands between her legs and scratched her inner thighs. She wanted him so badly.

"Did you think about it?" he asked.

With her lip caught between her teeth, she murmured, "About what?"

He leaned in closer to her. "My proposal." It was a whisper of breath that sent terrible shivers down her spine.

"Should I have?"

Naruto inched even closer. "Yes."

She jumped him.

Her lips were on his in an instant, the kissing rough and needy. She hiked up her kimono to her bellybutton, placing Naruto's hands on the edge of her soft satin panties. He smirked against her mouth, flipping them over so that he was the one on top. Her pale arms wrapped around his neck, her legs copying the movement around his waist. This was it. He was going to fuck her, and she would enjoy every minute of it. He kissed down her neck, raking his teeth over her defined collarbone, before pulling at the black bra that was exposed through her open outfit.

Tenshi tossed her head back. "Go," she commanded.

Naruto suddenly became very still. He inched back up to her lips, passing over them and kissing the shell of her ear. "You can have this and more," he said quietly, running his hands up and down her thighs, "if you come with me."

"Are you bribing me?"

"Is it working?" Their pelvises bumped.

_Shit, _Tenshi thought. She could fool him by saying yes, get what she wanted, and then reject him. But what if he suddenly went mad and came back to kill her? Or if he became so obsessed with her, he built a shrine of her beauty and then committed suicide? And then there was always the possibility of him coming back again and again and again until _she_ went crazy.

"I don't want to."

Naruto pulled her up by her hands. "Give me one good reason why it wouldn't be a good idea."

"I don't know you."

"We could get to know each other."

"You might be dangerous."

"If I wanted to hurt you, I would've done it already."

True.

She sucked in a breath. "I don't even _like _you. Why would the fuck would I want to live _with _you?" She cheered internally. "Plus, when you move in with someone, that usually means you love them." That was a damn good reason and the look on his tanned face said it all. "Now, stop talking, okay?" She pulled him back on her, kissing him again, chewing gently on his lower lip.

"You said living together is for love?" he asked against her mouth.

"Hai."

"So is sex."

Tenshi stopped kissing. Naruto continued, "You don't know me, but you wanna fuck. I could be dangerous, but you still just wanna fuck. You don't love me, but you _still_ just wanna fuck. I can save you, Tenshi, but you have to trust me. Okay?" He leaned his forehead to hers. She gulped the thickening saliva down her throat. He had outsmarted her. He seemed like a good person, acted like he cared, but she would never trust her heart again. Everything about the situation was unreal. And she was scared of the outcome it might birth.

Tenshi gently pushed him away, rolling over on the bed and onto her stomach. She kept her kimono pulled up in case he decided to change his mind.

She still wanted him.

"What's your name again?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh."

She felt the bed shift as he lay next to her. The tension in the air was thick, suffocating. The band that kept her inky locks together had fallen out, so a black wave was cascading in silky curls all over her shoulders and back. She turned her head so that she could stare into his azure blue eyes. "Your time's been up." He smiled. "Why didn't you make me leave?"

"Tsunade-sama doesn't care if our last customer stays the night with us—if he's good looking."

"Ah."

"I don't mind if your time's up."

The question that came out of her mouth next was irrelevant and uncalled for, but she had to ask him. Maybe then maybe he'd understand why it was so hard to agree to the moving deal.

"Have you ever been raped?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Iie! Have…have you?" She moved her hand quietly under her pillow and gripped the rosary, whose cool marble made her hot body feel cold. "Yes."

"When?"

"Long time ago. I'm over it."

"No one ever gets over that." Naruto scooted in closer to her, placing a small kiss on her forehead, then her lips. She shut her eyes when they came into skin-to-skin contact. "I'll stay if you want…" he whispered in her ear. It was tempting. She hadn't slept with someone in a bed since Okaa-san died.

She had always been afraid that when she woke up, they'd be dead.

"Iie, Uzumaki-san."

"Call me Naruto."

"I'm tired. You should go home."

Naruto didn't budge. "You sure?" Tenshi's lips thinned before she nodded. Naruto sighed and crawled over her to get out of bed. "I'm coming back," he told her when his hand was on the door knob. She gave a small smile. "I know."

"You're thinking about it?"

"Hai." This was a lie.

He grinned, saluted her, and walked out of the door.

When everything was completely quiet about ten minutes later, Tenshi ducked under her warm covers and clenched her fists. She gasped when she felt extremely pained in the chest area. But she didn't want to gasp.

She wanted to _fucking_ scream her lungs out.

As she dug her head into her pillow to let everything out, her voice got caught in her throat. Then she remembered; her screams didn't work anymore.

"_Have you ever been raped?"_

They had been used then, and there were no more screams to scream. Orochimaru had made sure of that.


	4. 03: Friends

**Bad Romance **by **Lady Gaga**

* * *

_Walk, walk, passion, baby,  
__Work it, move that bitch crazy._

**.03.  
i don't wanna be friends**

Tenten groaned and rolled onto her stomach, burying her head into her blue pillows. Her naked back was freezing, and there was a constant throbbing in between her legs. She placed her hand there, tracing cold fingertips over her inner thigh, and then proceeded to try and pull the covers on her body.

She felt around her, but the cover was no where in her grasp. She made an aggravated sound deep in her slender throat, and sat up on the bed, rubbing sleep out of her chocolaty eyes. Looking to her left, she saw another body beside her—a man—with all her azure blankets pulled on top of him. She watched the rise and fall of the covers, seeing no body, but she could make out the chestnut brown hair splayed over the pillow. "Ugh," she moaned quietly. Neji was _such_ a cover-hog.

She gripped the sheets that were covering his shoulders, and was about to jerk them away when she heard his voice, velvety and thick with sleep say, "Don't, Tenten." Tenten held back giggles, before pulling the blankets off him and quickly wrapping them around herself. Her fingers trapped the cloth tightly in their clutches. "Tenten," Neji growled. "I'm cold," she stated simply, turning her head slightly to stick her tongue out at him.

"You have all the pillows," Neji moaned as he began to strum his hands through his hair.

"So? It's _my_ bed and—"

Neji groaned loudly, interrupting her, and rolled atop her and silenced her talkative mouth with his. His eyes never closed, but hers were slowly drifting shut. There was an electric spark that passed when they kissed that made her putty in his strong hands. Something about him made her want to be a better person; someone that actually mattered in the world. Neji kissed the underside of her jaw and the hollow of her throat before pulling away. Tenten cocked her head to the side, a strand of her hair falling into her eyes. He brushed it away.

"That was it?" she asked, jutting out her lower lip.

"Give me some cover and I'll give you more."

"Well, as enticing as that is, I'm gonna have to say…no!" Tenten giggled wickedly and shoved Neji off of her.

He smirked, before sitting on her abdomen and ticking her under her breasts. She laughed more, and her laugh made Neji laugh. He stopped when she began turning blue. "That wasn't funny!" she gasped, holding her ribs. He chuckled, "Hai, it was." She gently smacked him on the cheek and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you," she whispered against his lips. He smirked and kissed down her neck, bringing his hands to her naked chest. "Neji, no. C'mon, it's already like, twelve. Tsunade-sama would totally fire you if she ever found out what we're up to." Tenten sat up and the blankets fell off her. "Tease," Neji murmured. She quirked her mouth. "C'mon, don't be that way." She ran her fingers through his soft hair. "I can see you tonight," she said. "No, not tonight. I have to pay some bills for Tsunade and pick up some of Tenshi's outfits." Tenten's hand fell from his hair as he sat up and began to put his clothes on and tie his hair. She looked down at her legs and unconsciously balled her hands into fist. "Tenshi, huh?" Neji turned to look at her. "Yes. What's wrong?"

She smiled. "Nothing! I was just thinking about something stupid Ino said."

His mouth thinned into a straight line and he sat back down beside her on the bed. "Tenten, I love only you." She sighed. "I know, but…but sometimes I wonder _why_. Temari is a genius, like you. Ino's body is _incredible_, and Tenshi…well, who _couldn't_ love her? And I'm just…so plain!" She buried her face into her hands. Neji rubbed her back and kissed her neck.

"I like plain."

She smacked his chest. "Be serious."

"Tenten, you're beautiful just being you. I love everything about you." He grabbed her face and moved the hair out of her eyes. "Okay? Believe me." Tenten's lips curved slightly. "Okay."

Neji smirked. "Even if your breasts are kind of small."

"Neji!"

* * *

Tenshi pulled her black heels onto her feet and stood from her bed, adjusting her short strapless dress around her bosom. She fluffed the new curls that Ino had styled around her shoulders and smiled at the way they bounced. She was on her way to pay Tsunade a visit. Whenever one of the girls went to see her in her office, they had to make sure they looked their best.

She wanted to wear her slippers and cotton pajamas, but Tsunade would probably have a stroke if she saw her wearing such a thing in her presence. Tenshi shook her head. She had been working double shifts for the past four weeks and decided that she should get a raise in her salary. Of course men would always leave her twenty to three hundred dollars in her panties after a long thirty minutes, but that wasn't enough.

She wanted her money.

She _needed_ her money.

She wanted to buy a small house and live there happily by herself with no more orders, no more _pointless_, loveless sex, and no more heartache. She wanted the house to be comfortable and to have a huge garden with all her favorite flowers. She wanted to be happy like she was with Okaa-san. She bit her bottom lip and walked out of her room and down the stairs. It took about three minutes to get to Tsunade's office because the brothel was just so big. Once she got to the marvelous double doors of the office she sighed and opened them without knocking. Tsunade looked up from her laptop, her mouth forming an "O" shape. "Tenshi, honey, what can I help you with?" She closed the computer and took off her reading glasses. Her hazel eyes sparkled with mischief, a look Tenshi had learned to stay away from.

She gave a fake grin, but it slipped and turned into a real grimace when she saw Kabuto sitting in one of the chairs in front of Tsunade's large cherry wood desk. "Tenshi," he acknowledged, reaching for her hand. She smoothly stepped away from him as if she hadn't seen it. "Stooge," she mumbled.

Tsunade laughed heartily. "Oh, honey. Be nice now."

Kabuto snarled.

Tenshi sat in the chair beside him and looked Tsunade right in her eyes. She crossed her legs and sat back, placing her hands in her lap. "I was thinking about you maybe giving me a raise," she stated simply. Tsunade's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Yes. I've been doing double shifts and I haven't been paid in a while. So, maybe you could raise my pay check. We all know I'm the reason this place is still in fucking business," she spat. Kabuto's mouth dropped slightly at the way she was speaking to _the_ head mistress. It was unfathomable. He cautiously looked at Tsunade to see if steam was coming out of her ears, but she was actually smiling with her cheek on her fist. His eyes widened slightly. "Ma'am?" he said. "Are you just going to—?"

"Ah, hush now," she told him, pointing her finger. "Now, Tenshi. Normally I would scold you for saying something like that, but I agree. In fact, I thought the same thing myself." Tenshi smiled. Tsunade continued, "There's been a young blonde man coming to see you, no?" Tenshi's smile slipped instantly. "He always comes down the stairs looking much fulfilled. Once he even told me everything went _perfect_."

Tenshi smirked. _Little liar. _"That's right." She crossed her arms.

"He's such a _handsome_ man. I mean, I have been thinking about opening a homosexual wing for men to the brothel. Do you think you could convince him to be our first employee?"

The disgusted look on Tenshi's face melted and she laughed loudly. "I don't think oji-san is that kind of man. But maybe you could ask Kabuto here." His fists clenched, but he didn't talk back to Tenshi in Tsunade's presence. "You're right. Y'know, I bet he's married," Tsunade said. Tenshi froze. "Most men that come to see you are straight to the bone and have families. Eh. Too bad." She opened her laptop back up and continued to work. "Don't worry, my angel," Tsunade said to Tenshi. "I'm giving you that raise. Be ready tonight, honey."

Tenshi stood from her seat, her eyes glazed, and walked out without another word. Her brows were tightly furrowed.

Was it true? Could her sexy almost-fuck buddy really be married? With children? Was he _really_ just lying to her to get off because his wife wasn't giving him any? Or did he have second house he was trying to move her into so he could have two women? She could practically feel her eyes turning red with anger. That low life son of a whore!

Tenshi groaned and stalked back to her room, her high heels tapping loudly against the marble floor. When she reached the foyer, she saw Neji getting ready to go up the stairs. She quickly ran to him and grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?" she asked. She had to get that blonde-headed loser out of her mind before she went crazy. Neji was a perfect distraction.

He smirked. "I was going to pick up a dress that Tenten wanted to take back because it's too small." Tenshi pulled him towards her behind a large bookshelf. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm bored. Entertain me," she demanded. Neji chuckled. "I'm afraid I don't have time for this." He placed both hands on her shoulders. "I have to leave."

"No, you don't. Let's go to my room. You never spend time with me anymore."

"You never ask me to."

Tenshi stood on her tiptoes and kissed his throat. "C'mon, Neji." She got her hands underneath his white shirt, feeling the now tense and constricted muscles of his stomach. Her fingers hooked into the loops of his jeans and she jerked him impossibly close. Her mouth worked its way from his neck to his chin to his lips. She kissed him softly, finding that his lips were unresponsive. She opened her eyes, only to see angry, narrowed ones. He cleared his throat and pushed her gently away. "Stop," he whispered. It was soft but firm and she blushed, despite herself. No one _ever_ denied her sex. Well, except the blonde, but he didn't count. "_Why_ do you keep rejecting me?" she said, wrenching herself away from him. "All I'm asking for is one fuck. God, just give me that!" She threw her arms into the air. Neji grabbed her. "Tenshi, please, just try to understand. I don't want to have sex with you."

She blanched. Furious, she pushed him away roughly and stormed from behind the bookshelf. Neji ran after her and caught her wrist. "Don't be upset," he said, bringing her to his chest. "You must find me repulsive or something," she murmured into his shirt. He petted her head. "No. No, I think you're beautiful, but I don't want to have sex with you. I just think of you as a friend." At this, Tenshi's head snapped back and she gave him a skeptical look. "You're not gay, are you? Because if you _are_, Tsunade-sama was just telling about this thing she wanted to do for gay guys." Neji laughed, kissing her forehead. "No, Tenshi."

"I'm gonna have you one day."

"Hmm." He lightly touched her hair and then they went their separate ways. Neji headed up to the stairs to Tenten and Tenshi walked to the dressing room.

The day had already begun to melt away and night was falling, which meant it was time to get dressed and get ready to work. Once Tenshi was in front of the door to the room, she gently pushed it open and looked inside. There, Ino, Temari, and three other women were getting dressed and laughing.

Tenshi walked in and closed the door behind her, smiling slightly when Ino rushed up to hug her.

"And just where have you been all day?" she asked. "Did you talk to Tsunade-sama?"

"I've been in my room, and yes, we spoke." She ruffled her hair and absently glanced at her French manicured nails. "Well? What'd she say?" Ino said, grabbing her dark-haired friend and pulling her to sit on a nearby sofa. "She gave me the raise, duh. After all the work I've been doing, I deserve it." Ino bit her lip and grinned. "You've been with that blonde man twice, Tenshi. I always watch him come in! What's the sex like?"

"Ino!" Temari chastised from across the room.

"What? He doesn't come to see me, so…"

Tenshi rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure if she should lie and say the sex was great, or tell the truth and say that they hadn't had sex…twice. But, really, how would that make her look? Ino always absorbed all the negative about someone before the positive, and Tenshi knew that Ino's pride would swell to the point where her head exploded if she told her the truth. So, she lied. "It's great. _Really_, _really_ great." She leaned back and crossed her legs while Ino's nose scrunched. "When is he coming back?"

"I dunno. He says soon, but…" _Look at me! God, am I actually anxious about this? I bet he's married! _She breathed deeply through her nose. "I just don't know."

Ino groaned. "Well, recommend me next time, 'k?" She moved to get up and undressed herself, stepping into a short, pink gown with ruffles. Temari had one on just like it except it was green. Tenshi put her face in her hands. That meant it was matching night and Tsunade wanted all the girls in the northern wing to wear matching outfits. It was disgusting, really. And ruffles just weren't her thing. She sighed, sucked it up, and went to help Temari with her hair, while two other girls joked about some man they both had in the same night. They were Mina and Nicole, two Americans. Tenshi didn't know much about them except the fact they were best friends and had flew into Japan together. Both were so broke after spending so much money on the plane that they decided to work in a brothel, which Tenshi thought was the dumbest and worst mistake any human being in their right mind would make. And then there was Michelle, their other friend, who had gotten pregnant so many times that the other girls had lost count. Every one of her pregnancies had been aborted, and she didn't like to talk too much about it.

Just as Tenshi was curling her hair, Tenten ran into the room and slammed the door behind her. Her face was flushed and her hair was everywhere. She was breathing erratically and her eyes were switching to and fro very quickly. Ino burst out laughing. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked, slapping Tenten on the back. Her face reddened even further. "N-Nothing. I was exercising up the…stairs?"

"Uh…_huh_. You smell like sex and guilt," Ino said, her hands on her hips. "What, did you start your shift early or something?"

"Shut up, bitch, you don't know what you're talking about!"

"_Bitch_? Why don't you check yourself in the mirror, you cow!"

"Ino, shut up!"

"No, _you_ shut up, you ugly little slut!"

"Stop it!" Tenshi shouted. Every girl in the room turned to look at her. "Just stop arguing!" She walked up to Tenten and Ino and gently separated them. "Please," she added, softening her voice. Ino snarled, "Fine," and turned away, her long ponytail slapping Tenten's nose. "Why you…" Tenshi held her back. "Let it go." She held her arms and gave her a smile. "Now, really. What happened to you?"

"I told you. I was…um, running up and down the stairs."

"Well, did Neji give you your clothes?"

Tenten's face turned purple. "Yeah, he did. I gotta get dressed!" She pulled out of Tenshi's arms and walked into a corner where she began to profusely brush her thick hair back into its usual bun style.

Tenshi frowned. _Neji goes to give Tenten clothes, first denying me sex because we're "just friends" and then Tenten finally comes to get dressed looking like she just fucked a wild bull. I don't like this._She shook her head, put on the rest of her clothes and walked out of the room and into her own, where she lit candles and put her rosary under her pillow. She didn't get jealous. That was for happy girls.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight: you're trying to get a whore to move in with you because you want to help her not be a whore anymore? Yeah, how's that working out for you, Naruto?" Nara Shikamaru asked, taking a sip of water from his glass. He leaned back on the black leather sofa he was under. "I don't think she's gonna come with you, man."

Naruto sighed deeply. "Shikamaru, could you not call her a whore? And she will agree. She has to, 'cause this is my last night in Rakuen. I gotta get back home soon." His blue gaze moved downwards.

"I think you should keep trying, Naruto!" Akimichi Choji said from beside him. He stuffed a sushi roll into his mouth. "I'd do it."

"Of course you would…if she could cook, fatty," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Naruto laughed. "Hey, why'd you to go to Red Heart anyway? Kiba told me about it."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Choji suggested that we do. I only agreed because I hadn't gotten any in a while."

"Well, who were you with? Tenshi?"

"No, I was with some blonde with green eyes. Don't remember her name." He sipped his water again.

"I can't believe it," Naruto said. There were all watching some TV show while relaxing on Shikamaru's furniture. Both Choji and Shikamaru were rather wealthy, and Kiba owned a large home outside of Rakuen, but was currently staying with his sister while Naruto was there with them. He always felt content at his friends' lovely homes and was happy that they never _acted_ rich. He brought a hand through his golden locks and shook his head in pity in the way Choji was wolfing down the sushi. He was still laughing internally at the fact that the bigger man had went to a brothel.

"Y'know, I don't even see why Rakuen even still _allows_ prostitutes to wonder the streets. It's illegal all over the rest of Japan," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Hmm," Choji said with a mouth full of food.

"I have to get Tenshi outta there." Naruto stood to his full height and stretched. "I better go. She's probably expecting me."

"Oh, ho, ho, you two have a _schedule_?" Shikamaru asked.

"Shut up," Naruto mumbled. He grabbed his car keys and stuffed them into his pocket, bidding Choji and Shikamaru goodbye, before he showed himself the front door and walked briskly to his car. He quickly climbed in and revved up the engine. It took about thirty minutes to get to Red Heart from Shikamaru's house, and by the time he parked his car it was pitch black outside.

He guessed it had to be about three in the morning, which meant the brothel was about to close. He needed to get in quick before they didn't allow anymore customers. When he walked in through the front doors, he was surprised to only see about ten people. The woman with the pigtails was at the front desk, counting money. He approached her and she looked up immediately, a large grin breaking out on her face.

"Hi there, handsome," she said.

"Hey," Naruto responded, reaching into his back pocket to pay her. Suddenly, though, her hand reached out and touched his arm. "You don't have to pay me tonight. All my girls have been in better mood since you arrived and most of them are doing double shifts. It's free. Go on up and see Tenshi." She continued to count money.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Sure. You better hurry before she locks her door and falls asleep. You're her last customer."

He nodded and thanked her, rushing up the grand staircase and heading towards the northern wing. As he passed the first and second doors, a young woman came out the third and jumped slightly when she saw him. Putting a hand to her chest, she breathed, "You scared me, oji-san." Her turquoise gaze caught his and she gasped in surprise. "Oh! _Oh_! You're that cutie who comes to see Tenshi, no?" She brushed away a long piece of blonde that was obscuring the vision of her left eye.

"Uh, yeah," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm Ino," the blonde mentioned, reaching out to shake his hand. He returned her kindness. "I'm Naruto."

She smiled widely. "Well, I'll just leave you to what you were doing." She moved out of his way and waved goodbye, before slipping down the stairs. He watched her go, and then walked to Tenshi's door and knocked twice.

A few seconds passed before she opened the door, and when she did, his breath was knocked from his lungs. Her black makeup was smudged under her eyes a bit and her mouth was wiped clean from the usual red lipstick and left a pretty natural pink. Her curls had fallen from her head, leaving her hair stark straight and over her shoulders. But what had his breathing coming in short gasps was the way her outfit was pulled down below her chest, revealing her breasts. He awkwardly cleared his throat.

Tenshi grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed him flush against her, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. "I'm tired of your hesitance," she said. Naruto didn't exactly know where to put his hands. "So I took the liberty of initiating the undressing part since _you_ won't. You can thank me later."

He eventually decided her shoulders would be okay, and placed both hands on either one.

"Listen," he said sternly. She frowned. "This is my last night in Rakuen."

Tenshi blinked. "So…?"

"Tenshi, I—"

"_Stop _talking." She squeezed him tightly and kissed him everywhere her mouth could reach. He had a hard time restraining himself and accidently skirted his fingertips over her breasts, making her ballistic. She turned them around and slammed the still-open door shut and shoved him to her bed. Climbing on top of him, she flattened herself against his chest. He touched her bare back and moved the bangs covering her eyes. Silver met blue and a plethora of sexual frustration was transpired. Tenshi kissed him hard on the mouth and he groaned in response. His head was spinning with her honey suckle sent and her soft skin felt so good against his, but if he got too ahead of himself and had sex with her, he'd regret it. After she got what she wanted, he knew she wouldn't even consider talking to him again. She tossed her head so that her hair was on one side of her body and ground her hips against his. The friction was absolutely unbearable.

"Fuck me," she said against his red lips.

"Come away with me."

She pulled back. "You are absolutely _ruining_ this!"

"Just say yes! You'll be happy you did!"

"Oji-san, I swear—"

"Naruto," he corrected.

"Nani?"

"That's my _name_." He sat up so that she was sitting on his lap. He grabbed the top of her gown and pulled it up over her chest. "Please. I can you get you outta here. I want to help you so badly. Just come with me. No one will be mad at you." He placed a hand on the back of her neck, bringing her close, and kissed her. When her lips didn't move against his, he stopped and held her chin.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you married?"

"Am I…? What?"

"Married! Are you married, oji-san?" she screamed, jumping off him and going back to the door. "Tell me the truth," she seethed. Naruto followed her, shaking his head. "I'm not married, I swear to you. And I never have been." Her chest heaved and her eyes were stinging. He tried to touch her, but she squirmed out of his embrace. "I think you should leave." _Am I crazy? _"Right now. Go, right now!" Her hands were shaking, but she wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with her. He grabbed her trembling hands and kissed her fingertips. "Tenshi, I care about you."

"Stop saying that!" Her face turned pink.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed. "You don't like me! Okay? Stop promising me things, stop coming back here! I'll never love you—I don't even _like_ you! All I want is your body; there _is_ nothing else! Got that? So just fucking leave me _alone_!"

She wrenched open the door and waited for him to walk out. There was a horrid, pained expression on Naruto's face as he apologized for bothering her and walked out of the door. She slammed it behind him and ran to her bed where she stuffed her head into her pillows and screamed, clutching her rosary. She bit her lip. Deep, deep down inside she knew it would be in her best interest to just go along with him, but she was so afraid that he'd hurt her, she couldn't bring herself to agree. No man had ever been so kind and patient with her, and always coming back if he promised he would, and that had scared the shit out of her. She curled into a small ball and wiped her still stinging eyes. The sensation was familiar but she couldn't remember what it was. He shouldn't have been asking her to come live with him; he should've wanted to save that for someone that he loved. His innocence was sickening. She would corrupt him.

She sighed, but then her ears perked and her heart raced when she heard a few knocks at the door. She leaped off the bed and to the door, clutching the door knob. She shoved her hair out of her face and opened it, expecting the blonde, but that seemed to not be the case.

Instead, she got someone else; a person she did not wish to see.

Kabuto.

He smiled at her and she cringed, the fact that he was just like Orochimaru imbedded into her head.

"Leave," she demanded, but he stepped into the room. Kabuto pushed her arms from the door and closed it behind him, locking it with a skeleton key he'd probably stolen from Tsunade.

"Dear, dear, Tenshi. I _paid_. I will get what I paid for."

She sneered. "You fucking _faggot_. Get the fuck out before I beat the shit out of you, you hear me, asshole?" Kabuto growled low in his throat and grabbed her forearms. Tenshi opened her mouth wide to scream her lungs out, but his slimy, slippery kiss took her breath away. He forced her to the floor and sat atop her chest, suffocating her. "Get off! Get _off_!" she screeched, using all the muscles in her legs and thighs to buck him off. He snatched her throat and pressed her trachea. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment…"

Kabuto applied all his weight to her then. Tenshi coughed and wheezed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. _This is not happening. This is not happening. Oji-san, please come back. Somebody…help me._

Why didn't she listen to him? She was so stupid; a fucking idiot!

She giggled, shocking Kabuto. "So, you want it too, eh?" he asked. She laughed harder, arching her back. All her life she had been belonged to someone else and when her salvation had practically been handed to her on a golden platter with red ribbons wrapped around it and decorated with diamonds, she had refused.

She laughed harder.

"What the fuck is so funny?" Kabuto became enraged, and she could see it in his eyes. He smacked her. When she continued to giggle, he just hit her harder, until his hits became punches, and punches became kicks, and kicks became a frenzy of limbs being thrown at her body until she was a heap on the floor. Her head pounded, she knew something was broken.

Tenshi's eyes became heavy and she passed out, right before one more giggle escaped her bleeding mouth, and a kick was applied to the back of her head.


	5. 04: She's Got Me

**Poker Face **by **Lady Gaga**

* * *

_Can't read my, can't read my,  
__No, he can't read my poker face._

**.04.  
she's got me like nobody**

Naruto walked out of her door and down the long hall. He quickened his pace when he reached the steps and ignored the honey-eyed woman working at the front desk when she tried to get his attention. He was fuming mad and almost running when he reached the double doors and headed to his car. Once in, he didn't put his key into the ignition, he didn't even bring them out of his pocket. Instead, he rested his head against the steering wheel and breathed deep. He couldn't tell if he was more angry or disappointed. He really did care for that girl, even if she couldn't see it. He was only trying to help her. He did have to admit that asking her to move in with him had been a big leap off a tall building, but that was the first thing that came to his mind.

"_Have you ever been raped?"_

He figured she had been through a lot in her life, which was probably the main reason she didn't trust him. But he wanted to be there for her. He wanted to hold her all day and tell her over and over again that he would always be there for her. He still didn't know _why_ he wanted her so—he just did.

"Oh, God," he moaned. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

She needed him, weather she knew it or not. And he realized he needed her just as badly. But what could he do? The anger on her face had been so prominent. She was so serious about him wanting to leave her alone. How could he help someone that didn't want to be helped? How could he love someone that didn't want to be loved? Naruto shook his head, exasperated, and pulled his keys out of his pocket. The boys were going to have a good laugh about this one, and he could already see Kiba shaking his head in shame.

Just as he began to set the car into drive, all the men that had been sitting in the brothel walked out, some sneering, some looking back in concern. This caught his attention, and he looked further to the right, only to see that honey-eyed woman ushering everyone out. There were tears in her eyes, and she kept looking back with a horrified expression. Naruto took his keys back out and clenched them in his fist. When his knuckles turned white he loosened his grip and got out the car.

Something was wrong.

Wiping his forehead, he slammed the door shut and groaned.

He would bring Tenshi out of that room even if he had to drag her by her hair.

* * *

Ino had just come out of her room to get something to drink when she saw Kabuto's silver head heading into the southern wing. She quirked a blonde, thin eyebrow, before looking to her left and right. She hated to eat alone, so she thought maybe Tenshi would be hungry.

She hadn't seen the girl eat anything within past four days, and Lord knows she was already as thin as a twig.

_Why can't I be that skinny? _she thought, absently looking down at her legs. Shrugging, she headed towards Tenshi's room.

She knocked twice, called her name four times, and when there was still no answer, she placed her hand on the knob and turned, surprised to find it unlocked. She frowned and pushed it open, and the sight made her blood run cold.

"What the fuck?" she whispered. Tenshi's body was a crumpled heap on the carpet, blood pooling out from her head and staining everything in its path. She looked dead, but her legs were slightly shaking. Ino dropped to her knees and scrambled over to her, gently lifting her torso. A sickening crack and dry cry from Tenshi's busted and bleeding lips told Ino that a few of her ribs _had_ to be broken. Her salty tears dripped onto her bleeding friend's face, and she didn't know what to do but scream.

"_Help_! Tenten, Temari, Tenshi's _hurt_! Help! _Tsunade-sama_!" She rocked their bodies back and forth and smoothed the black hair from Tenshi's bruised forehead. She kissed the purple-marred spot. "Baby, don't you die on me," she commanded. Tenshi groaned in response.

Ino began screaming once again, and finally the girls barged into the room. Tenten had to cover her eyes at first because the scene was so grotesque. Temari was fuming mad, and there were other girls looking over their shoulders but too afraid to walk into the room.

"Where's Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked, hugging Tenshi closer to her.

"She's kicking everyone out," Temari said. "Who did this?"

Tenten tightly closed her eyes. Ino shrugged. "Fuck, shit if I know. You think it could've been a customer?" Temari swallowed deep. "Who was the last person in here?" She gently grabbed Tenten's trembling hands and led her over to Ino where they sat and looked over Tenshi's broken body.

Ino gulped and looked down. Could it have really been the man that introduced himself as Naruto? The one that was just so drop-dead gorgeous? She glanced at Temari's angry face. "I think I know," she mumbled. "You know that guy that always used to come see her? I talked to him before he went into her room, and about fifteen minutes later, I came out and knocked on her door and found her like this," Ino said. She was crying again. This was just too much for her.

Suddenly, Tenten stood up and laid her hand against the wall. "Where the fuck did he go?" she seethed. She finally had gotten over her shock and silence, but it had been replaced by livid anger. "He's probably long gone," Temari said, touching her back.

"No! We have to find him now!"

"Get outta my fucking way!" another voice then boomed from down the hall. Tsunade came through the room of crowded people and made all the girls from the other wings leave, leaving only Temari, Tenten, Ino, Nicole, Michelle, and Mina. Tsunade crouched down in front of Ino and sobbed when she saw Tenshi's face. "Who did this?" she cried.

"That blonde fuck that everyone kept saying was so _perfect_!" Tenten said.

Tsunade shook her head. "He wouldn't."

Ino nodded and wiped her tears. "He did."

"Let's go find him, Temari," Tenten gritted out.

"No, we can't leave them. We have to call the police."

"I'm not letting them take Tenshi out of here," Tsunade said. "She doesn't leave."

"Will you stop thinking about money for one second? She's going to bleed to death!" Ino shrieked.

"I _own_ her!" Tsunade said.

"You low-life bitch," Ino whispered. Tsunade then raised a hand to smack her across her cheek, but Tenten's cry of pain stopped her in her tracks. Ino, Tsunade and Temari looked up, only to see the American girls holding Tenten back from the blonde suspect. He had his hands raised to his face to block her long nails, but his eyes were on Tenshi.

"What did you do?" Tenten yelled.

"I didn't! Listen to me, I didn't do this! I'd never hurt her!"

"You _fucking_ liar!"

Ino stared at him with narrowed eyes, and she could see _something_ in his expression, his worry; something real. She realized she'd made a mistake. "Tenten, stop, he's telling the truth!" she said. She gave Tenshi to Temari, glaring at Tsunade, and helped the other girls calm Tenten down. "Stop!" she said. She sat her down and walked up to Naruto, whose eyes still had not drifted.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Someone beat the living _shit_ out of her, that's what happened." She grabbed his hand and led him over to Tenshi's body which had gone absolutely deathly pale.

Naruto bit his lip, crouching on his heels to further inspect her. When Tsunade saw his face she turned a lively red hue, but Ino and Temari quickly calmed her down. He didn't want to meet anyone's gaze, and instead ran his hand through Tenshi's long hair, watching out for the large wound that was in the middle of her head.

He looked at Temari. "Give her to me."

Temari's mouth dropped. "I…I…"

"So. I see the blonde has come to the rescue."

Everyone's head turned to the door, only to see a man with silver hair and glasses standing slightly over the threshold. His arms were crossed and his thin lips were set in a cunning smirk.

"Kabuto?" Tsunade asked. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "All in all, I guess you could say she deserved it. A slut is supposed to do sluts do best—give a good fuck. And she denied me. _Me_! She got what she was aiming for. Whore." He spat onto Tenshi's soft carpet.

Naruto glanced at every female in the room. Ino was scowling, her chest heaving, the one called Tenten seemed to be stuck in her spot, her eyes filling with tears. The blonde holding Tenshi had her fists clenched, and the head mistress looked as if her heart had just exploded. Naruto hung his head. Whore. He hated that fucking word. In fact, he had promised himself that if another man ever called Tenshi a whore in his presence again, he would beat them into a bloody oblivion. He stood to his full height and walked pass the girls until he was standing right in front of Kabuto. "What did you just call her?" he asked, his fingers twitching. Kabuto's smirk turned into a sick, twisted smile. "I called her a whore. And?" Naruto smiled, and his fist suddenly connected with Kabuto's jaw.

A sick cracking noise was heard as he fell to the ground, holding his face. Naruto hoisted him slightly by the collar of his shirt and hit him in his stomach, in his face twice more, and then slammed his head into the carpet until the blood around his body extended the same distance as Tenshi's. Just as his foot was about come down on his nose, Ino grabbed his arm and begged him to stop.

"Do you want to go to jail, too?" she whispered. "You need to be here…for Tenshi-chan."

At her name his attention was refocused, and he bent in front of Temari and Tsunade once more. "You won't have to worry about him hurting the girls anymore," he said. "Now, please. Give her to me."

"Do it, Temari. Naruto-san will take care of Tenshi-chan," Ino piped.

Temari's piercing green eyes narrowed, then softened as she gently and carefully put the still unconscious girl into his arms. He nodded his head, thanking her, and moved one of his arms carefully under the bend of her knees, and the other he used to support her back so that her head would fall to his chest, her arms crossed over her stomach. He smiled down at her sleeping face and kissed both her vein-lined closed lids before standing with her.

"Wait, _wait_, wait a second!" Tsunade intervened, standing as well. "Where are you taking her? _You_ give her to _me_ this instant!" She held out her arms expectantly.

"I'm afraid I can't, ma'am. I'm taking her away from here. She won't have to do this anymore." He looked at Ino, Temari, and Tenten, whose eyes were glossed. "You three should get out of here, too."

They didn't answer, but Ino interlaced her fingers, walking over to kiss Tenshi on the cheek. "I love her too, you know. So take care of her." Temari nodded in agreement. Tenten cried more, but finally found the strength to bid her angel-like friend a goodbye. She would miss her the most. They had been together through thick and thin and Tenshi had always been a soft shoulder to cry on.

Naruto smiled kindly and adjusted the outfit that was loosely covering her body. Tenten excused herself and came back with a fluffy blue blanket, draping it over Tenshi's body. "This is mine," she said. "Just something to, um, remember me by." She backed away slowly and tossed an annoyed look at Tsunade who was wailing profusely. Naruto snuggled the girl in his arms closer to his chest and walked out of Red Heart and to his car.

He put her in the front seat and strapped her in, positioning her head to the side. He kissed her neck. "Let's go home, okay?"

* * *

_Where…where am I? What is this? What the hell happened to me?_

Tenshi's hands immediately flew to her eyes where she wiped them to clear the fuzziness of her vision. Pain spurted through her back and there was a dull ache at the back of her head. She tried to sit up on the soft bed she was under, but found it hurt her too much. "You shouldn't move," a familiar voice then said. She blinked multiple times before her eyes focused on the blonde that had left her. Well, she had pushed him away, but for some reason she was furious at him for not coming back again. She wanted to wrap her hands around his tanned neck and throttle him until he was purple in the face. She frowned as he smiled at her, and tossed some of her now tangled hair back. It was then that she felt the bandages around her forehead. God, that faggot had really done her in. "So, you kidnapped me, oji-san? How original. Where the hell am I?" She placed her hands on the white sheets of the bed and at her feet she saw Tenten's favorite blanket. She reached over, fingers skimming its utter softness.

"You were hurt pretty bad," the blonde said, ignoring her question. He was sitting on Tenten's blanket, leaned over, fingers interlaced with his elbows on his thighs. "You've been asleep for about two days. You didn't, surprisingly, have any broken bones, but a lot of bruises and cuts and your head was bleeding, but you're perfectly fine." She rolled her eyes and scratched an itch on her clavicle, before her eyes widened in shock and realization.

_Iie! Where is it? Where is it?_

Tenshi searched her body and Naruto cocked a brow at her actions. He reached behind him on the bed and held up her rosary. "Looking for this? It fell out of your clothes."

She sighed loudly and snatched it out of his hands.

"You're religious? It doesn't seem like—"

"It's not like that," she hissed, burying the precious object into her chest.

Naruto bit his lip. Tenshi carefully folded her legs under her and finally got a good look around her surroundings. They were in a large white room, the walls covered in pictures. The bed she was sitting under was king-sized, the boards made of onyx wood. The dressers pressed against the walls were made of the same material, but what made her mouth open in a silent gasp was the incredibly huge window beside the bed. The view on the outside was that of the ocean, the sand a white-gold. She had not seen the waters of the beach since the weekend with Kurenai. Her eyes were glued to its calm blue waves, the bright sun reflecting off of it through the window and highlighting her entire form. "Christ," she muttered, flipping the cotton covers off her body. The bed was high up from the floor, she noticed.

She had never thought that her oji-san was…rich.

"_This_ is _your_ house?" she asked, still in awe. It was simple, but beautiful.

"In the summer. My parents worked really hard. They died a few years back and left me all of this." He pushed back his bangs. Tenshi blinked. "You didn't strike me as wealthy." He shrugged.

"How do you know how to nurse wounds?" she asked.

"My mother taught me when I was young. I couldn't take you to the hospital because they would need certain information, which I don't have about you." He reached over to touch a lock of her hair. She grabbed his hand, absently looking down. She was in a purple bra and panties and a pair of socks. "Who put these clothes on me?" she said, smirking. Naruto reddened. "I, uh, had to. There was blood everywhere. Before we came home I stopped by the store and bought you some clothes. You're a two, right?" Tenshi smirked. "A three," she corrected, crawling towards him. The movement stung, but she didn't care. Naruto leaned back as she approached him, her arms on either side of him. Their mouths met in a deep kiss.

"You got me here, oji-san, and after we fuck you're taking me back, right?" she mumbled against his lips.

Naruto blanched. "What? No. You're supposed to stay with me."

She sat on her knees. "This is a nice place you got, but I can't stay here."

He frowned. "Do you _really_ like being a prostitute?" he asked, squeezing her arm. "I'm trying to help you." Tenshi's eyes widened.

"I never asked for your _fucking_ help," she seethed.

"Well, I'm giving it to you, so you should accept it," he retorted.

She sneered. "You totally just ruined my sexual appetite."

He smiled. "Want to look at the ocean?"

She turned her head back towards the window. Okaa-san would've loved this. Tenshi could feel her chest tighten the more she gawked at the amazing view. Everything about this house was perfect; exactly right up her alley. If things had been different, if she wasn't a prostitute or traumatized or angry at the world, this would've been the kind of life she would want.

Naruto idly picked up one of her hands and kissed her knuckles. "Are you okay?" Her far-off expression was rather heartbreaking. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Tenshi rolled her eyes. "Mind your business, oji-san."

"My name is Naruto."

"Whatever." She stood, holding her stomach and pulling Tenten's blanket over her shoulders. "Take me outside," she told Naruto, pulling her socks off with her feet. She had never liked socks. He obliged and walked with her to the front door, turning a silvery lock and opening it. Tenshi stepped out onto the porch, heat scorching her bare feet, before toddling rather awkwardly to the sand where she buried her toes into its depths. She walked to where the ocean water was and plopped down in front of it. The cool, calm waves swam to her legs and licked them, making her skin glitter against the setting sun. She had never felt the ocean before.

Naruto sat beside her with his arms on his knees and narrowed his eyes to the light. She side-glanced him, noticing the way the rays of the dying sun shone red on his golden hair and made his eyes even bluer. She couldn't help but to realize that he was indeed a beautiful person.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispered with the wind.

Tenshi's hair billowed like a silk black curtain against the red, pink, and purple backdrop. She bit her lip. Sunsets reminded her of the day Okaa-san died. In fact, she could see her right now: ghost-white skin and Arctic cold blue lips, her black eyes empty, eyelashes frozen, hands stuck by her sides, hair thrown carelessly around her head. She remembered pressing her fingertips to the woman's cold chest, and found that absolutely nothing was beating underneath the flesh. And now the sun was setting on her oji-san's house, so magnificently beautiful in its death, its decent, and then the moon would take its place and shine its hauntingly pale reflection over her while she slept. Her oji-san would not be beautiful under the moon's shadow.

He would look dead.

She involuntarily cringed.

"No," she responded, tossing her head his way. Naruto frowned. "The sun is not beautiful. It's just the sun. We see it every day."

She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. _The sun's got nothing on you._

"I want you to stay with me," he suddenly said.

"Nani?"

"Stay here, okay?"

"No."

"Tenshi…"

"Haven't we had this conversation? You're taking me back to Red Heart as soon as these cuts heal up, oji-san, you hear me?"

Naruto's hands balled into tight fists. There had to be _something_ he could say to make her see things his way. "Will you just—_please_—think about it?" He laced his fingers together and held them below his chin, leaning towards her face. Tenshi glanced at his pouting mouth and back up again into his glistening blue eyes. "I promise you'll like it here. You won't have to do anything you don't want to. You won't have to be a prostitute anymore." He touched the side of her face and kissed her forehead.

Tenshi recoiled back. "Why me?"

"Huh?"

"Of all the girls in the brothel, you picked _me_. Why?" She leaned her head onto his shoulder and stared up at him with wide silver eyes. Naruto smiled. "When I saw you… I don't know, really. I just know that the minute I laid my eyes on you, I…I _had_ to have you."

Tenshi looked down at her buried feet and realized that darkness was creeping up on them and their sun had finally passed. No one had ever said words like that to her.

It was disgusting.

Naruto strung his hands through her hair. "Why were you walking around in that neighborhood anyway?" he asked, referring to the moment when he'd first seen her sitting on Hana's porch with Kiba. Tenshi immediately froze, her fingers stiffening on her legs. Shit. She had never realized that he'd seen her walking around that place with Neji. "Didn't I tell you to mind your business?" Her eyes hardened.

She turned away from his burning gaze and felt the soft kiss he applied to the back of her head. It set her entire skull on fire. _I have to get out of here._

He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the shell of her ear. "Tenshi…stay with me, okay?" He brushed her hair from her neck and kissed there as well. Tenshi's eyes fluttered closed, but not in pleasure; in exasperation. He was such a _fucking_ little tease! Kisses here and there, feather-light touches, but he never went all the way. It was driving her _crazy_!

She abruptly stood and began to stalk back into the house, her arched brows narrowed.

The cool sand wedged itself between her toes as she approached the porch and opened the door, walking into the living room that she hadn't noticed before. She could hear Naruto's feet behind her the entire time, though he never said a word. She looked at the black leather sofas and chairs, the platinum screen television on the wall, the billions of pictures, the glass coffee table littered with magazines. The interior decorating was fabulous. It was mostly black and white with splotches of color in random places, like paintings and a bright red rose that was lying on a tall, large bookshelf stocked with thick books. She walked over to it and skimmed her pink-tinted fingertips across the spines, before finding her way back into Naruto's bedroom. She climbed back into bed, her legs and head aching.

He sulked in behind her, slinking down into a chair that was beside the bed. The same chair he'd sat in for forty-eight hours straight, doing absolutely nothing but watching her heal and sleep.

She hadn't even realized just how tired he really was.

"What's bothering you?" he asked, leaning forward.

Tenshi shrugged, her eyes still darting around like a five-year-old child's in a toy store. She looked to her left and saw a side table with a large fish bowl sitting atop it. Inside was a black and gold koi with large jaws and twinkling fins. She sighed. "You have a fish?" she mocked, looking at Naruto. He smiled and shrugged. "Her name's Ai," he said.

She shook her head and stared into the bowl until the fish opened her mouth in kissy face.

"How do you know it's a girl?"

"I don't." Naruto rose from his chair and grabbed some fish food from under the table, sprinkling a portion into Ai's bowl. "Are _you_ hungry? I'm sure you are," he told Tenshi. Her eyes glossed.

Naruto sat in front of her on the bed and held one of her pretty hands, tracing the shape of it. She sucked in a breath as his hands tickled hers. "What do you want to eat?" he whispered. He began massaging her, moving to her wrist and then her arm. She couldn't meet his eyes or else she'd probably jump him, and she honestly wanted to milk this homey lifestyle for as long as possible. Although she knew that living with him would be absolutely _impossible_ for someone like her, his presence reminded her of Okaa-san, and she had never been this comforted after her death. She decided at that moment to stay with him until he realized that she could be no more than fuck buddies, and then she would leave.

But how long would it take to convince him that she just _wasn't_ right for him?

Tenshi leaned back into the pillows when he crawled between her legs and kissed on her neck. He eased the fluffy blanket off her shoulders and ran his hands down her arms before they rested on her hips. She closed her eyes tightly and tangled her hands in his golden hair, jerking his face to hers. Naruto closed the space between them in a searing kiss. Tenshi moaned loudly into his mouth and he opened one eye at her overly-dramatic noise. She smiled and bit his bottom lip hard, pulling back a bit before she let go. He brought a hand to his mouth and swiped, checking for blood.

_Ouch, _he thought.

"Y'know, oji-san, I am hungry now that you mention it. What do you have to eat?" She climbed out of bed once more and found her way into his marvelous kitchen. It was large with white walls and black accessories; the fridge, the stove, the marble countertops. Her mouth opened slightly as she opened the ebony cabinets and saw nothing but packs of instant ramen. She sniffed and closed it shut, looking at Naruto who smiled sheepishly. "I should've known," she muttered. She brushed a hand through her long hair and walked through the kitchen until she made her way back into his room. She truly wasn't hungry, or even interested in touring his huge home. She was tired and very much bruised, and she just wanted to lie down and sleep again.

Once they entered the room, Tenshi once more climbed into bed and shrugged herself under the covers, her hair a fan of black behind her head.

Naruto sat back in his chair and interlaced his hands, placing them on his spread knees. She was staring at him from the corner of her eye. "What do you want from me?" she asked. The thought had been bothering her. He blinked multiple times.

"I want you to let me love you."

"You're a strange one."

"Most people tend to think so."

"This won't work out." Tenshi leaned further towards him.

"How do you know?"

"I just do, oji-san."

"I could love you, ya know."

"Hmm."

Naruto frowned and stood from his chair and brought his gray T-shirt over his head, making Tenshi's eyes widen. She'd never seen him completely shirtless before and the sight was rather pleasing. He was muscled and tan and smooth over his chest and stomach and thin line of dark blonde hair started below his navel and disappeared into the waistband of his silk pajama pants. He walked to the opposite side of the bed and sat down, his eyes never leaving her shocked ones.

She brought the cover to her mouth and smiled under it.

Naruto's muscles would twitch and throb every time he moved.

Tenshi watched as he got under the blankets and lied down, sighing as he did so. It was then that she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "You're exhausted," she acknowledged.

"Very."

She turned her body towards him and propped her head up on her hand. "Oji-san—"

"It's Naruto," he clarified, rolling into her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She blanched and brought her tiny hands to his chest, her head tilted upwards to meet his downward gaze.

He smiled brightly and kissed her forehead. "Sleep now."

Tenshi exhaled softly though her nostrils and pursed her lips, pressing her mouth against his chest, her eyes wide and mind troubled until the soft, rhythmic beating of his heart lulled her to sleep.


	6. 05: Hurricane

**Stricken **by **Disturbed**

* * *

_I am crippled by all that you've done,  
__Into the abyss will I run._

**.05.  
****like a blood-stained hurricane**

When the moon's gentle caresses finally flitted in through the window and basked her in its wake did she spontaneously pop up from her white pillows.

Tenshi viciously rubbed her eyes and brought her legs to her chest, resting her chin in between her knees. She looked beside her and saw Naruto sleeping soundly, his back to her. She patted her calves before gently leaning over him to take a look at his face. His mouth was slightly agape and the blonde tresses on his head were covering his eyes. She pulled away, frowning, and attempted to sneak out the bed. Her feet were like falling feathers against the carpet; she couldn't even hear it. Creeping out of the room and sneaking to the back door, Tenshi carefully turned the knob and pulled it open. How foolish for her oji-san to not lock it.

_He must trust me or something,_ she pondered, walking out. The shushing of the ocean was heard, but she didn't know if she should go around it, or walk to the front yard and perhaps steal whatever vehicle he had.

Once outside, she basked in the warm air and walked to the water creeping up on the sand. She stood in the shallow depths up to her knees and leaned her head back. She loved the ocean. Even though she'd only seen it twice, she felt as though she'd had her feet in it all her life. The crisp wind blew her hair back as darkness shrouded her frame. She began to get nervous standing out in the pitch blackness with no city lights, rubbing her arms from the slight chill.

Tenshi sighed in aggravation and stomped her feet, splashing water on her thighs.

She wouldn't be able to leave tonight.

Turning on her heel, she angrily stalked back to the door, pushing it open loudly before she realized that she wasn't alone in here. She looked around in the darkness, and was surprised to see Naruto standing in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest. She backed up a few steps and looked around before she met his gaze. She felt like a little kid that just got caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

He gave her a tight smile. "Enjoying the fresh air?"

She laughed lightly. "Well, yes, actually I was. I was just…coming back inside because it was getting a little cold."

"Tenshi, you promised…" Naruto whispered, reaching for her hands. She extended them to him, letting him interlace their fingers, but cocked a confused brow. "I didn't promise you shit." He pulled her away from the door, locked it, and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't leave."

_Oh, no. He's clingy._

"I told you. I'm not going to leave." She looked up at him, noticing that his eyes were half-lidded, almost as if he wasn't actually awake. She put her hands on his waist. "Are you…are you _sleeping_?" She knew that sleep walkers were potentially dangerous, so she softened her voice and touched him gently. Naruto gave another strained smile and his eyes fluttered close. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not," she lied, coaxing him back into the bed.

He put his arm around her shoulders as they clumsily walked to the bedroom. Naruto, once he lied back down, instantly fell asleep. Tenshi stayed awake for the rest of the night, staring at the man beside her. He fucking _slept walk_. She covered her face with her hands. She would never be able to leave. Her body lied in that bed like a sack of rice, motionless and heavy. She didn't remember going to sleep, but when her eyes opened that next morning, the rays of the sun were shining in between the blinds of the windows.

But her oji-san was not lying next to her.

Tenshi, panicking, looked around for a dead, frozen body. She was a curse, she knew it. Anyone that slept with her died. She raced out the room and into the hall, whispering his name. She didn't want to be a murderer.

God, not again.

"Naruto…" she mumbled when she entered the kitchen. She walked to the marble countertops and set her hot palms on their cool surfaces, relishing in the feel. She tilted her head back and that was when her eyes caught the yellow sticky note on the fridge. She blinked a few times before walking to it and snatching it off.

_Good morning, love, _it read, _there's food in the cabinets if you're hungry. Went to get some stuff for the house. Oh. And I locked all the doors and windows so you wouldn't try to run away. Be a good girl!_

_-Naruto_

_P.S. Feed Ai for me, will ya?_

Tenshi's ears turned red. She gripped the note tightly in her hand before shredding it into a thousand tiny pieces. "Gah!" she shrieked, stomping on the yellow paper. She hit the fridge with her fist. How dare he? She refused to be treated like a prisoner!

Tenshi ran to the front door and pulled harshly on the knob before knocking on the window next to it. She thought about taking a chair and knocking the glass out, but decided against it when she realized that she would most likely injure herself further. "Fuck me!" she shouted, kicking the wall. Her head spun. She didn't like to feel as if there was no way out, as if she were being trapped without her consent.

No more.

She clenched her jaw tightly, stomping into the bedroom to look at his stupid, kissing fish. She put her face close to the bowl, and Ai stared back. "I don't like you," she told her. The fish puckered up. "Stop making that face at me." Ai did it once more and turned around in a circle. Tenshi snarled. "How 'bout I tap the fuck outta this glass, huh? Would you like that?" Ai did not stop.

Tenshi pressed her nose against the bowl. "Are you the only woman he's ever had?" She ran a hand down her neck, remembering she put her rosary under the pillow on the bed. "If you're even a girl. Do fish have sexes?" Tenshi grinned to herself at her question and smashed her lips against Ai's bowl when the fish made faces once again. "I think you're a boy. You're trying to charm me."

"You like the fish more than me?"

The hairs on the back of neck stood as she fell on her bottom at his easily recognizable voice, but it scared the shit out of her. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and rushed to him, holding out her palms and shoving against his chest. "You asshole!"

He grabbed her tiny wrists and brought her hands down to her sides. "What did I do?"

"Don't you ever lock me in here again, you got that?"

"I—"

"You don't own me!"

"Wait. How long have you been awake?"

Her neck and cheeks heated. "About fifteen minutes, but that's not the damn point!"

He gave her a bright, beautiful smile and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. She wriggled in his grip and turned her face to the side. He moved his hands up to her waist and held her there, not minding that she didn't respond to his touch. He nuzzled his nose in her abundant black hair and inhaled her earthy scent. Her ample breasts pushed against him in their purple lace confinements. She still wore the underwear he'd bought, the white socks long discarded. The softness of her body thrilled him. He'd never touched a girl as remarkable as her. She was like a doll; every part of her glimmered and shined as if she were some sort of rare jewel. He loved to think of her like that.

Naruto skimmed his lips against the crown of her head. He wanted to envelop her in warmth and love, give everything he had to her like he had promised someone special to him many years ago.

"Oji-san?" Tenshi said, breaking his thoughts. "I want to take a shower."

He pulled away from her and nodded quickly. "Oh, of course!" He hadn't even thought about that. Suddenly sheepish, he held her small hand in his much larger one and led her to the master bathroom connecting to his bedroom. There was a large Jacuzzi tub and a shower big enough for four people. The toilet was behind another door adjacent to the tub. Tenshi laughed in relief, her lips pulling back to reveal white, straight teeth. Naruto smiled, glad that she liked it, and pulled out a wash cloth and fluffy white towel for her. "There's shampoo and conditioner and soap and whatnot in the shower," he added. She blinked. "I'll smell like a man."

"You'll smell _good_," he clarified. "I'll leave you to it then." He rubbed the back of his neck and began to walk out when she snatched the hem of his white shirt in her nimble fingers. He turned around briskly and raised a brow.

Tenshi's heart raced. She braced her hands at his jeans, on his belt, and jerked him close to her. She chewed on her already red lip and looked him up and down in a quick motion.

"You should join me. I might get lost in there."

Naruto laughed. "Is that so?"

She leaned up on her tip toes to kiss him, his arms instantly wrapping around her slim body while her hands went behind her back to skillfully unsnap the clasps of her bra. When the straps fell off her shoulders and the cups loosened, Naruto pressed them against the crème tiles of the wall, his chest on hers, keeping the purple lace locked in place. She almost groaned had not his finger skimmed a white-hot trail from her ribs to her panties, pulling at their band and snapping them back against her skin.

She made a hissing sound, tugging at his clothes. "Tenshi," he whispered in her ear, reaching behind her to open up the sheen shower door by a metallic handle. Tenshi panted, her lungs tight in her chest, her skin prickled and warm, her fingers clenching themselves in the fabric on his body. She was ready this time; no hesitation. They were together in his house, alone, about to get naked, and there were no more promises to be made on her part. Well, a few, but she had done enough.

Her head fell back as the sound of rushing water filled her ears, steam instantly consuming the large bathroom. "I want you," she told Naruto with her eyes closed.

"I know," he responded.

Tenshi pulled her bra off and stepped back into the shower and watched Naruto's baby blues sparkle. The water, coming out of mutated shower heads that had been combined into one turbo shower experience, moistened her back but wasn't soaking her completely. Naruto pulled off his shirt and ruffled his hair and Tenshi reached out to put her arms around his neck. She moaned at the way his hard body curved into her soft breasts as if their forms had been made that way for each other. He gripped her jaw and tilted her head back, kissing her deeply. His tongue tasted every inch of her mouth, but he jerked his head back when her teeth clamped down it. Tenshi was _wild_. Her hands wound into his hair to bring him close and slightly nibble on his lips. The sensation of her softness pressed against him something out of this world.

She heard the sound of him unbuckling his belt, his feet shuffling as he took off his socks. She helped him take off his pants while he worked to get her panties down her long lean legs. His erection was pressing into her navel, but it only made her giddy.

He gently pushed her further back into the shower, water pouring over their heads and stuffed his hands into her underwear. Tenshi's mouth opened slightly but no words came about. She was disoriented. She didn't know quite where to put her hands. Naruto slid his finger up her folds and she yelped, an embarrassing noise that made him smile. "Oji-san," she moaned.

"I'm sorry, what?" Naruto asked.

He lifted her against the slick walls, blonde hair wet in his face. He put his hand on her forehead and eased the black locks away. She heard the sound of her panties being ripped off her and felt the delicious sting of him against her. Her legs wrapped vice-like around his waist, her hands on his shoulders, nails digging into his tanned skin. His flesh felt like steel wrapped in silk.

"Fuck me," she begged. "Oji-san, I—"

He squeezed one of her breasts. "What's my name?" The tip of him teased her.

Tenshi racked her brain. How could he expect her to think at a time like this?

Her lips parted as she stared into his eyes, breathless, hot. "Naruto," she purred, holding the back of his head. He looked down and smirked, pushing himself into her halfway. "Say it again." Tenshi put her face in the slope of his neck. "Naruto," she said, louder this time. He held her thighs, constricted her to him and plunged into her. Tenshi almost felt ripped, if that was even possible for her, and screeched. Her head hit the wall behind her, water running down the length of her neck and in between the valley of her breasts. Her dark, dusky nipples brushed against Naruto's toned chest, driving her nearly half-insane. Her eyes closed shut. Her arms were tight around his shoulders while one of his arms was wrapped around the small of her back, the other pressed against the shower wall to keep the rhythm steady. All she could feel was him inside her, filling her up until she felt like she was about to explode.

It was hard keeping her legs around him with the water seeping in between their skin when all their muscles were focused in their pelvises.

Tenshi screamed his name for about two hours, and then they both had to take real showers _alone_.

* * *

"So I take it that fish isn't the only woman you've had around?" Tenshi asked, biting into an apple. She lied on the living room couch watching a cooking channel with Naruto beside her, her feet on his lap. "What makes you ask that?"

"You're obviously skilled in the bedroom, idiot."

He rubbed her legs. "I've had a few girls." She took another large, un-ladylike bite of the apple. When he said that her insides clenched and unraveled. She wasn't sure what she was exactly feeling, but she knew she didn't like the idea of anyone touching someone she favored, like she knew Tenten was doing with Neji. Her gaze softened. She missed them. She didn't even get to tell Neji goodbye.

"You were good," Naruto said and smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "What do you expect?"

They continued to watch the cooking channel, a woman giving instructions of how to properly roll a piece of sushi, when Naruto's hands froze on her legs. "We didn't use a condom."

Her head stayed in the direction the television was but her stormy eyes strained to look at him. "You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?"

"We didn't," he repeated.

Tenshi looked away. "It's okay," she whispered. And really, it was. Nothing was going to happen if they didn't use condoms. _Absolutely nothing._

He stared at her now crestfallen features and didn't say anything more. He didn't know why it would be okay for someone like her, but he didn't press. She'd tell him things about her when she was ready. He continued to massage her legs and stare mindlessly at the cooking lady while Tenshi dwelled within herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, traveling back in time where Orochimaru would put his gray hands around her neck and tell her he was going to "fucking squeeze every breath" out of her if she didn't obey and do everything he asked of her when he asked. She had been about twelve the first time and scared to death of his empty and sometimes not-so-empty threats.

At times she thought she had phantom bruises from moments when he'd been pissed drunk and hit her until he realized she was not his mother who'd left him at the age of eight with an abusive and sex-obsessed father.

She could remember when she had cried during one session with one of his clients when he took off his pants and his short penis was not circumcised and looked terribly different from all the others. He had tried to put his grand body on top of her much smaller one and the tears wouldn't stop. She hated it.

When Orochimaru heard her complaining from the other room he stormed in and apologized to the man, telling him he'd have to come back another time. Tenshi cried more, thinking he'd finally gained some compassion for her. But that wasn't the case. He'd taken her hand in his and led her outside to his car where they drove to the woods. She was shaking in her seat. Orochimaru had pulled her out the car and dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the darkness of the woods. He slapped her face and shoved her to the ground and left her there for hours, and she knew that the only thing there with her would be the wild animals bound to be wandering somewhere, sniffing for human flesh. She hadn't wanted to look appetizing in the eyes of a wolf.

The experienced had mentally crippled her and had made her terrified of the dark. Three years later, when she was fifteen, she'd punched him in his mouth for hitting her awfully hard on her head. He beat her until blood dribbled down her nose and mouth, and then locked her up inside a dark closet until her crying and screaming for help satisfied his ears. He left her in that tiny, hideous space for two days with no food or water, and after he let her out he raped her.

Tenshi never fought against a customer, but when Orochimaru touched her she went ballistic. She fought with him every time he tried to have sex with her. Sometimes she won and he backed off and left her with a few cuts and bruises, and many times she lost with torn loins and a plethora of cuts and bruises.

Her childhood was a dark fairytale, she knew that much, and she blamed her family for it. They never loved her. No one had ever loved her and if Okaa-san truly had, it couldn't have been that much. Kurenai said so. Her heart didn't beat something special.

Tenshi's eyes slowly opened as she came back to the present. She thought of Naruto. Maybe he _could_ love her like he said. Surely no one had ever said words and did things for her like he did. He made her feel like what she knew she was—a bad person. Ino and Tenten always used to wish and dream about what a real man was like; the kind of man that little girls dreamed about marrying when they grew up.

Naruto was their definition.

He was the knight in shining armor, the prince that all princesses went to bed thinking about, the boy at school that all the girls wanted to get to know.

And he was hers.

She was safe here. Somebody wanted to keep her, had even asked her not to leave. Tenshi placed on her chest and scowled. Naruto made her feel like she was about to burst into a thousand kaleidoscope colors dripping wet with emotion. She had always wanted to feel like that about someone; to encase another human being in her heart and throw away the key so that they would stay in her forever and ever.

"_You belong to me!"_

Orochimaru would never allow that.

He still haunted her. If she entered a dark room he would be waiting for her in the corner with a dead rose and smile on his face. And when she turned on the lights he would skitter back into the recesses of her mangled mind and whisper things that she couldn't even comprehend, but it chilled her bones.

She watched Naruto from under her bangs as he stared intently at the television. He was a sun. His soul burned brightly inside of him while hers blackened like flowers in winter, disintegrating into nothingness. She couldn't count how many times she had prayed as a young girl with her rosary wrapped in her fingers that Kami-sama would get her away from her life as someone else's property. It took many years but it seemed like it had finally happened.

Tenshi brought her legs off of him and brought them to her chest, setting her chin on her knees. This was her personal thinking position.

He smiled. "What's wrong?"

"What was your mother like?"

He frowned. "Beautiful. Smart and funny. For some reason, I don't remember a lot about her." He put his hand under his chin.

"What was her name?" Tenshi asked.

"Kushina."

"That's pretty."

"Thank you." He grabbed her foot and pulled her close. "What about you, huh? What was _your_ mother like?"

Tenshi rolled her eyes, but on the inside she felt sick. "Mind your business."

His mouth dropped in a comical manner. "I know you'll tell me one day."

"Sure."

"You should write a diary."

"I think that sounds like something more up your alley."

"Hey, I don't have a—! Oh, that reminds me!" Naruto climbed off the couch and walked to the front door, shoving his feet into a pair of slippers. "Where are you going?" Tenshi asked, getting off the couch and following him. "To check the mail," he said. "Wanna come?"

She nodded, wanting to see the front of the house. He unlocked the door and held her hand as they walked out onto the porch. It was mostly sand and grass beyond that and a stone pathway led from the porch to the mailbox which was about five feet away. Naruto's car must've been in the back in some garage because Tenshi didn't see anything. They walked to the mailbox and Naruto opened it up while Tenshi played with the red flag on it. He searched through the envelopes.

"Bills, bills, bills, bills," he muttered to himself, before one larger envelope caught his eyes.

"Why did a diary make you think of this?" she mumbled.

"Alright!" he shouted, tearing his thumbs into it.

"What is it?" Tenshi asked. "Did you win an oven or something?"

"No, silly," he said, kissing her forehead. "It's a letter from a friend of mine. Ha, he sent me a _letter_, can you believe that?" Tenshi was about to vomit. She hated letters. A letter meant it was the end, period. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. _Someone you love has probably died or he's telling you he has cancer, _she thought, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. He opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside it.

"Who is your friend?" Tenshi asked, sincerely interested. Naruto seemed a little odd to have friends.

"His name's Uchiha Sasuke. I haven't seen him in like, a year."

Tenshi's heart skipped a beat. "Who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto said again. He was smiling. "He says he's coming to visit and he should be here soon!" He handed Tenshi the note. "Wanna read it?"

She took the letter in her hand and immediately recognized the perfect Japanese calligraphy. "You'll like him, Tenshi," Naruto promised. She didn't answer. Instead she concentrated on the name signed at the bottom of the letter. Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke was friends with Naruto.

Unintentionally, the corner of her mouth rose into an all knowing, sick smile.

Naruto babbled on and on, blissfully unaware of the evil that was evident and prominent in Tenshi like blood splattered on white sheets.


	7. 06: Danger

**Feed the Machine **by **RED**

* * *

_You need the danger just to feel your heart beat,  
__You need the knife just to know that you can bleed._

**.06.  
****feed the machine**

Tenshi's hands shook slightly as she read the note over and over again, imprinting Uchiha Sasuke's elegant signature in her head. After she had memorized every simple curve of the pen of his name, she had the sudden urge to shred the white sheet into insignificant little pieces and then spit on them.

"How exciting," she said, glancing up Naruto. He nodded very quickly.

She slowly handed him back the paper and cracked her knuckles. Her chest felt unusually heavy. "Did he say exactly when he was coming?" Her stomach felt empty and swollen at the same time.

"Hmm. If we're lucky he'll be here tomorrow. Or maybe even tonight, who knows?"

"Huh."

"You'll like him, Tenshi."

"Yes," she whispered.

He smiled to himself, folding the letter and sticking it back into its envelope before pocketing it. Tenshi's gaze traveled from his hands, moving to work the letter back to its original form, and then moved to the grovel pathways far ahead of her where she imagined walking five to seven miles until she saw another house where other people hopefully lived. She folded her fingers together and rested them on her flat stomach.

Naruto grabbed her elbow and her feet moved puppet-like behind him into the house. She hadn't even the nerve to tell him not to man-handle her. Her mind spun like carousels around Uchiha Sasuke. What would she say when she saw him? Would he remember her?

She walked into the living room, Naruto's shirt sagging off her left shoulder, and collapsed on the sofa, crossing her legs and stringing her hand through her hair. Naruto sat beside her, very close, wrapping an arm around her midsection.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"You look sad."

"I always look this way."

"Liar. I've seen you smile."

Tenshi inhaled deeply. "Stop talking."

"Tell me your problems."

"No."

"But I—"

Tenshi angrily slammed her hand on his mouth and shook her head. "I said to shut up." Naruto grinned under her hand and kissed the palm of it. The touch of his lips against her clammy skin sparked a small flame and she quickly pulled away before her entire arm could be ignited on fire. He frowned, the crease between his blonde brows tightening. She hated that stupid look on his face. It made her heart wrench inside of her chest. "I want to swim," she told him.

"Okay…"

Tenshi stood and sprinted to the back door, taking off her shirt and shorts on the way. She heard Naruto tell her to be careful, but it went in one ear and out the other as she slipped out of her panties and stared at the glistening ocean water. It washed onto the sand and whispered for her to come closer. The summer air was comforting on her skin as she trudged knee-deep into the blue waves. She reached behind her head to grab her hair, wound it up in her hands, and placed it neatly against her chest. She bent over, using her hands to rummage through the water, looking for pretty shells. When her fingertips grazed something hard and smooth, she smiled slightly and gripped it, tugging its heavy weight out of the water.

It was rock. Or a stone, she couldn't tell. Tenshi frowned slightly as she brushed the underside of it with her index finger and held it against her chest. The coolness of it seeped past her skin, opening her pores and then tightly closing them back up. It almost reminded her Orochimaru, but then again, everything did.

His hands were always too cold.

She suddenly felt very unclean with the thought of him gnawing holes in the back of head. She self-consciously began to dig her fingernails into the stone. He was suddenly all over her. She had to get him off; he was making her dirty. She would be dripping with black liquid if she walked back into the house now, ruining Naruto's furniture.

Tenshi began to nod and shake her head simultaneously. She gripped the glistening stone in her trembling hand and scrubbed her skin with it. She sat in the water and rubbed it harshly against her arms and legs, huffing when she could see Orochimaru's dirt.

She dug around in the water for a sharper object, and came across and jagged shell. Sighing in relief, she roughly dug it into her stomach and around her hips. It was dirtiest there.

Tenshi abraded her body with the shell until the water she was sitting under started to turn pink. She did not realize that she was bleeding profusely; she wanted to get clean. When her upper body and hips were red, she worked at her legs. The filth was everywhere. God, how did she not notice this before? She worked like a slave, her eyes glued to the quick, jerky movements of her hands. She began to feel the intense sting of the ocean salt water, biting her lip in pain.

But the dirt had to come off.

She sucked in a breath, relaxed her arms, and was about to go at it again when a hand gripped her forearm and gratingly pulled her to her feet.

"Ouch!" she screamed, struggling until she saw that Naruto was holding her against his chest. His expression was a mixture of worry and extreme anger as he stared down at her through narrowed blue eyes.

"What the _fuck_…are you doing?"

Tenshi smirked. "Were you peeking on me?"

"This isn't funny! Look at you; you're bleeding everywhere!" He placed his hand on her stomach and groaned at the red stains on his fingers and the blood on his palm where he'd grabbed her arm. He looked down at her naked body and saw the torn skin on her right breast above her dark nipple, and the cut on the inside of her thigh. "What the fuck were you doing?" he whispered.

Tenshi's head snapped up. How dare he? He couldn't understand—no one could.

She jerked out of his grip and held her arms over her breasts. "Just shut up," she seethed, her storm gray eyes swirling like the wildest of tornados. The end stands of her long hair were matted onto her back and all around her shoulders; she was wet and messy. She needed a shower and something hot to eat, and the buffoon that had kidnapped her from Red Heart was blocking her entrance into the house. She pushed on his hard stomach to move him, but his hands latched on like suction cups onto her thin wrists.

"Let me go," she said slowly, seriously, but Naruto shook his head and held her tighter. "Please, let me help you…"

"Are you fucking deaf? Let me go _right now_."

"You're acting real _stupid_ right now. You just _shut up_ and let me take care of you." He began to pull her toward him, his shirt splotched wet with the water on her body.

She cocked her head to the side, her mouth dropping slightly in disbelief. It was short lived, however, as she raised her hands and gripped each side of Naruto's face, her nails in his skin, and briskly brought her hands down.

Naruto held her back by putting one hand on her shoulder, gingerly touching the wounds with the other. He felt the slight bleeding and fingered the three, thin marks.

She stepped back and stared with wide eyes at her long nails. There was blood in them. And suddenly, she remembered the day her mother had died, how she had dug her nails into her skin to hold on to her forever. Ironic how she was doing the same thing to someone who actually wanted to be with her; she was just trying to get rid of them this time. "Tenshi…" Naruto said, reaching for her. Gasping, she put her hands up to her mouth and ran into the house. Naruto couldn't catch her in time and put his head down in disappointment. The wounds didn't hurt _that_much.

He stared at the closed door where she had disappeared for a moment, and then began to wipe his injured face. He waited outside for about ten minutes, cooling his feet in the water, and then sauntered after Tenshi into the house once he had the courage to do so. He looked for her in the living room and in his bedroom—_their_ bedroom—until he heard the shower water blaring and realized that she was washing all that blood and sand off of her. He bit him bottom lip. It was probably best just to leave her be, so he walked into the kitchen and made himself a bowl of hot ramen. By the time he'd finished eating and watching an hour and a half of sports, she came to sit on the far side of the couch where he was sitting.

She had changed into the pair of jean shorts that he'd bought and a black T-shirt that hugged her just right. She had her lips pressed together in a thin line, and when he scooted over next to her, she braced her hands on her chest, one over the other, and quickly blubbered out an apology.

The whole time she was in the shower, she'd stared at his blood in her nails, and felt like total shit. She hadn't wanted to physically cause him any pain.

"I'll understand if you want me to leave," she muttered. It would be for the best; she could go back to Rakuen and forget this entire thing ever happened.

Naruto laughed out loud and pounced on her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his head in between her plentiful breasts. "You can't get rid of me that easy," he assured.

Tenshi sat up a bit. "But I hurt you."

"No, you didn't. I'm fine!"

She stared, flabbergasted, and caught the sight of the closing scars on his face. It was almost as if he'd grown whiskers, for they were perfectly aligned and on each cheek.

He nuzzled his face in between the crook of her neck. She could feel his lips spread into a content smile.

"I love you, Tenshi."

She pushed his head up. "Since when?"

He frowned. "Since right now, I guess."

She smashed her lips together and didn't say anything else as his head went back down. God, she wanted to rip out her hair. He just ruined everything. "One good fuck and you're in love with me? God," she moaned. Naruto squeezed both her hips and grinned. "I said I _love_ you. I didn't say I was_ in love_ with you. At least not yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He kissed her neck and breathed in her strawberry scent. He strained his neck to place his lips on hers in a sweet peck. The ones that she couldn't feel, but she knew he'd done it.

He placed his hands on either side of her face and kissed her again; a real kiss. Her stomach twisted and her brain rattled when he slid his hands down the hollow of her throat and ran them over her defined collarbone. They flittered over her shoulders and then grabbed her wrists, locking them behind his neck, trying to take her mind off of the negative.

She smirked, but then separated her mouth from his when a slow, steady knock was heard at the door. Naruto excused himself while she sat up and straightened her clothes. She watched him disappear behind a wall and lay back on the couch, her head hanging slightly off the edge of one of the cushions, and raised her legs in the air, swinging them back and forth and humming. She heard Naruto give an excited shriek, but she thought nothing of it. It was when he came into the room with a dark haired man behind him did she incline her head to stare.

Uchiha Sasuke looked remotely the same, although she could say that he'd gotten taller. He looked around the room for a moment, glanced at her, and then noticeably did a double-take.

Instantly, her lips reared upwards in something that wasn't a smile or a smirk.

It was almost a backwards frown.

Naruto prattled on and on about this and that, and when Sasuke impatiently cleared his throat, he stopped blabbering and blinked, almost as if remembering that Tenshi existed. She pulled her body up to sit appropriately on the couch, her hair lying beautifully around her face.

Sasuke walked forward, his hand making a gesture towards her as he looked curiously back at Naruto. "What is this?"

Tenshi's eyes ignited.

"I think you mean _who_, teme. That's…uh, Mizuki? Yes." He nodded to himself and then met eyes with Sasuke, who was still glaring at Tenshi. "Don't play stupid," he told Naruto. "I _know_ who that is. I lived in Rakuen for two years."

Her heart thudded. He remembered her. His voice was acidic, eyes still black as coal and caustic. His hair still spiked, disheveled and ebony, and his skin was almost as white as hers.

He was perfect. Still perfect.

"So. What've you got to say?"

Naruto sighed. "Okay, that's Tenshi. _But_, she's not prostituting anymore; she's turned over a new leaf and…we're, um…now living together. I'm saving her." He said the last sentence very softly. Sasuke groaned, running a tired hand through his hair. "I come all the way here from my quiet home, and you present me with this bullshit." He sneered, a facial expression so familiar to Tenshi, she felt her legs shake and had to cross them to keep them still.

Sasuke looked at Naruto once more and walked carelessly into the kitchen, not even glancing in her direction.

"Ya bastard, you—" Naruto stopped mid-sentence as his cell phone blared out a ridiculous tune. He fumbled to bring it out of his pocket and then pressed a button to answer the call. "Hello?" Someone began yelling from the other line. "Kiba? Look, this is _not_ a good time. I…yeah, but…he _what_? Okay, okay, okay! Calm down, I'll be there soon." He shoved the phone back where it belonged and raced back to the door. "Fuck. Look, guys, I'll be right back. Be nice to each other, yeah?" And then he left.

Tenshi popped up to run to the window to watch him run behind the house. She sighed at first, but then her eyes glossed over with pure lust. Sasuke was standing in the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest and his head tipped downwards, eyes closed. She sauntered to him and stood directly under his nose until his eyes opened. Sasuke scowled. "Get the hell away from me."

"Why? You said you loved my body, remember?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her lips against his chest through his black shirt. God, she wanted to remember what he tasted like. Her fingers fisted in the fabric of his clothes as she pressed herself as close to him as possible. Sasuke growled, roughly seizing her arms and jerking her back to look into her eyes. She gasped at the pain that shot up through her shoulders and the way his skin burned the lingering wounds from her self-mutilation.

He grabbed her jaw and squeezed. "Shut the fuck up about that."

"Aw, does Naruto not know your sleazy past?" She stuck out her tongue to lick the stretch of skin between his thumb and pointer finger.

She didn't expect that same hand to suddenly wrap around her neck.

Her eyes bulged. It wasn't painful; just utterly uncomfortable and surprising. He leaned in to place his forehead against hers and used his other hand to push her closer. "How does Naruto think he'll change a whore into a house wife?" Despite the obvious blow to her pride, Tenshi smiled. "He can't." And her mouth collided against his. What they did in the kitchen could not possibly be labeled a kiss. It was abuse. His teeth tore into her lips and bit harshly on her tongue, sending waves of delicious pain through entire mouth and throat. His hands never let up on the grip on her neck as he squeezed whenever she tried to pull away to regain her lost breath.

Sasuke was angry and took all his frustration out on her. Their short-lived sexual past had forever been burned into Tenshi's memory. She didn't know how he could possibly expect her to forgive and forget what they had gone through, what he'd done her to.

What she had to give up for him.

He pressed his tongue against the side of her neck and bit the white flesh there, leaving a red, bowtie shaped mark. Her eyes fluttered close at the wonderful sensation and she stepped back to brace her hands at his black jeans.

But he stopped her.

"Don't."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so." He put her hand in front of her and stepped around her body, shoving a hand through his hair.

Tenshi glowered. It wasn't necessarily true that she wanted to have sex with him because she felt something for him. That was total bullshit. She wanted to hurt him, to have him reduced to a trifling friend and someone not worth trusting. She wanted Naruto to look at him and shake his head and pity, and she wanted Naruto to get it through his thick head that he would never have her. He would never be able to tie her down; it wasn't in his power.

She was loose and free and wild, and she wanted everyone to know. If she had to fuck Sasuke's brains out for Naruto to understand that, then so be it. No one's feelings but hers mattered anyway.

Tenshi caught Sasuke by his wrist and kissed each of his fingers. "Apologize to me," she demanded, standing on her tiptoes a bit to look deeply into his black eyes.

"For _what_?"

How could he?

She leaned down, mouth agape, and felt the familiar sting on rage behind her eyes. But it was something else. It was anger, disappointment, fear, but most of all, sadness. And his hand fell from hers like butterflies dropping dead as he raised her trembling fingers to her lips and suddenly tasted blood. His eyes narrowed as he watched her step back and cover her face.

There was nothing to say. How was she supposed to respond?

Tenshi groaned loudly and pulled at her long tendrils of hair. Her cheeks were inflamed red and her legs were about buckle under her weight. The feeling of regret pitted in the core of her stomach and she was nauseated. The emotion was paralyzing. "God, I hate you," she told Sasuke, and when he tilted his head down to look at her, his narrowed eyes popped and glazed.

She was crying.

* * *

**Sorry it's not as long.**


	8. 07: Revenge

**G4L **by **Rihanna**

* * *

_I lick the gun when I'm done  
_'_Cause I know that revenge is sweet._

**.07.  
load it, reload it**

Naruto parked into a handicapped space at the hospital and then proceeded to argue relentlessly with a security guard who had—rather rudely—asked him to move. After fifteen minutes, the guard gave up and gave Naruto exactly an hour and a half to get in and get out of the hospital and do whatever it was he needed to do. He had thanked the guard with quirky sarcasm, but then immediately rushed in the doors of the emergency room to a front desk where a blonde woman was steadily typing away on a fancy-looking computer. He stopped instantly in his tracks and had a gut wrenching feeling of déjà vu. He really hoped that she didn't have honey eyes.

"Can I help you, sir?"

Nope. A dull, mucky brown.

He cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Yes, ma'am. Akimichi Choji? What room is he in? He's one of my best friends, I _have_ to see him." He was rocking back and forth on his heels, adrenaline and a little anxiety rushing through his veins and making his vision splotchy. When Kiba had called him, the other man's voice was cracking and dropping with what sounded like complete and utter fear. What if Choji was seriously hurt?

The woman pursed her pale, thin lips and began to quickly rummage through a large manila folder. She pulled out a white piece of paper with sloppy Japanese writing on it and frowned. "You are Uzumaki Naruto, I hope?"

He sighed in relief. "Yes, yes, that's me."

"Okay. Your friend put you down on his family list. I'll just need to see some ID and then you can go on up."

He hastily dug into his pocket to fish out his driver's license, handing it to the brown-eyed nurse. She smiled kindly and gave it back. "He's on the sixth floor. Room 132E."

Naruto pocketed his license and raced to the nearest elevator, his heart pounding in his chest until he finally got to room 132E and hurriedly turned the knob to see Choji in a hospital bed, eating a Popsicle, and Kiba and Shikamaru sitting on either side of him. Kiba was laughing his head off, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes while Shikamaru sighed loudly, propping his elbow up on the bedside table and muttering incoherent curses.

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted, stepping in and loudly closing the door behind him.

Kiba stopped cackling and wiped his moist cheeks. "Will ya cut that shit out? This _is_ a hospital."

Naruto gave him a crude hand gesture. "I thought Choji was, like…_dying_ or something!"

Shikamaru yawned. "What made you think that?"

"'Cause Kiba called me almost _crying_ on the phone and—"

"Hey! I was _not_ crying!"

"Sure as hell sounded like it to me!"

"Alright!" Choji intervened, throwing the stick of his Popsicle in the small trash can beside his bed. He swiped his hands on his blue sheets and smiled. "Thank you for coming, Naruto."

Naruto smacked his forehead. God, he was tired. "Why are you here, Choji?"

Kiba sat back in the chair he was in and leaned forward, howling with laughter once more. Choji's face reddened. "The bastard…had-had to get…_his stomach pumped_!" Kiba gasped, tightly holding his abdomen and doubling over in laughter. Shikamaru put his hand over his lips to stifle any noise from coming out. The story was pretty funny. Choji had gobbled down way too many sushi rolls and yakitori sticks. One had gotten caught in the lower portion of his throat and he'd passed out. When the ambulance came, they'd retrieved the stick—with no meat on it, strangely—but then he had to get his stomach pumped. He throat was a bit ruptured and sore from the large tube the doctor was forced to stuff down it and the effects of the stick of meat, but he was perfectly fine.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Kiba retold the story and ended up on the hospital floor, his laughter getting a wee bit out of hand. Naruto scowled and plopped down onto a chair next to Choji's bed, his blonde tangles hanging in his face. He caught Shikamaru's dark gaze and then, suddenly, his eyes widened considerably. "You're here alone," he said in a drone monotone, but it was also realization laced through those words.

And surprise.

Naruto frowned. "Yeah…I am."

"Where's Tenshi?"

Kiba's laughing ceased.

Choji mumbled, "Yeah, thought you took her down?"

"He did _not_! He's such a pussy; you left her there, didn't you? I told you—_I told you_—he wouldn't come through, Shikamaru. Where's my money?"

Shikamaru shushed him. "Well?"

Naruto inhaled deeply and sighed."She's at home…"

Kiba fell out. "Aw, he actually _did_ it? For fuck's sake, _Naruto_, how did you—?"

"…with Sasuke."

There was a pregnant pause and then Kiba rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"She's fucking him."

"Kiba, shut the hell up!"

"No, I'm serious this time, dude." Indeed, he was not laughing. "If you left that girl alone with Uchiha Sasuke, she's definitely fucking him." Choji and Shikamaru were silent. Sasuke had a reputation in Rakuen for being a womanizer, but he was strictly for sex. Feelings didn't matter in his book and the boys honestly thought he didn't have any himself. The same thought was going through all of Naruto's friends' heads: Tenshi would have sex with Sasuke because she could, and he wouldn't give her hell about it later. But Naruto knew better. Sasuke was his best friend; his best friend that had just walked into his home from the city after almost an entire year. Sasuke was cold and rude and conceited and a lot of other things, but he would never have sex with Tenshi.

He just didn't roll that way.

"Ne-_ver_," Naruto droned, emphasizing each syllable. "When he walked in the house and saw her, he was like, 'Naruto? What is this? What have you done?' and yadda, yadda, yadda. I don't think he even likes her too much." The boys all exchanged looks. Shikamaru spoke first. "Who _doesn't_ like Tenshi?" Naruto bit his bottom lip and glanced at Kiba, whose obscure eyes were narrowed in agreement. Choji had decided to stay out of the situation, for he pulled candy from the bedside table drawer and began to eat quietly.

"They're fine," Naruto assured.

"Is that what you believe?" Shikamaru countered.

_What else am I supposed to believe in? _"Yep."

Kiba stretched and groaned. "Hana misses you, ya idiot."

A genuine smile stole his lips. "I'll visit."

Choji suddenly spoke up. "You guys should get on home, you know. It's late. I'll have my mom come by to stay the night with me."

Naruto's eyes found the large window in which he could clearly see the dark night meshing in with the late sunset. The drive from the inner city to the outer was a long one. "You sure, Choji?" he asked anyway. Choji nodded with a closed-mouth smile. He smiled back and stood, ruffling his hair and saluting Kiba and Shikamaru as they got their things together. He turned on his heel and walked casually out of the hospital.

"He's _fucked_," Shikamaru said.

Kiba and Choji nodded.

* * *

She wasn't sobbing. There was one, maybe two tears falling down her cheeks.

Sasuke tilted his head to get a better look, mesmerized that she could produce tears. And she was so pretty when she cried. He could remember now. Her eyes would get much larger and her pupils would dilate, the black circles consuming the gray irises expanding so beautifully. Her pink bottom lip would jut only slightly, and the salty tears on her cheeks would make her face red and raw. He wanted to lick them away. His hands cupped her face, tilting her head up. Her hair fell down her back and her bangs separated from her forehead. He smirked. "So you really are human?"

Tenshi slowly closed her eyes. She was suddenly imagining him with an ax in his head.

"You…aren't sorry at all?" she whispered.

His hands left her skin. She was freezing. "No."

Her lips twitched and she roughly pushed him away, turning around and leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen, her knees surprisingly shaking. She noticed the bulging blue and purple veins in her hand when she raised it to thread it through her hair, holding her bangs up and wholly exposing her smooth forehead. She almost felt like she was having an anxiety attack with the way the room started to spin. She leaned over and held her abdomen, her stomach churning with nausea. She felt Sasuke's presence behind her after a moment, and he spun her around, trapping her between his arms.

His eyes were as black and empty as Okaa-san's had been.

She raised her finger in front of face, silently ordering him to stop. "I don't want to hear it," she seethed.

He sighed. "Listen, Hin—"

Both her hands slapped over his mouth.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, the sound bouncing off the walls of flesh and hitting her ears like bombs going off. Her fingers were etched in the skin of Sasuke's jaw and cheeks, fearing that if she let go, blood would start spewing out of his mouth. Her name was a curse, she knew that much, and it was one of the reasons that she had never been loved; it was the reason why her father didn't want her. It'd had been a mistake to tell Sasuke her real name that two years ago, but she had trusted him with everything. She realized how stupid she'd been in that moment.

Tenshi slowly unlatched her fingers from his face and placed them gently on the smooth, white column of his throat, her thumbs slightly pressing into his trachea. He wasn't threatened. "Still keeping secrets?" he smirked, his eyes downcast right onto her. Her eyes were hooded as she mumbled with false plead, "Don't tell Naruto."

Sasuke leaned back. "You're no good for him," he said bluntly.

_I know. _"Try telling him that. I didn't ask him for this."

"You should leave."

That stung. "He won't let me." _I want to stay…a little longer._

"I'll help you."

Tenshi glared at him. "Why would you do that?" Sasuke grabbed her jaw, her hands instantly falling from his neck. Her lips parted automatically, as she thought he would kiss her, but his mouth settled beside her ear. "I keep a secret for you and you for me." And then he lightly pecked her temple. Her eyes lidded heavily. This was a good thing. She could get away from Naruto and Sasuke and all this other bullshit and return back to Red Heart with her selfish boss and fellow prostitutes and those nasty, awful customers. "There are worse things," Tenshi said aloud quietly to herself. Sasuke leaned in further. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Get the fuck out of my face."

Her forehead tightened when her fine brows tilted downwards. She was suddenly very sticky. She couldn't exactly pinpoint why the uncomfortable feeling was occurring, so she violently pushed him away from her and stalked into the living room, sitting down on the couch and crossing her long legs. She wanted to scream and kick and whine, but she sucked everything back down into the pit of heart and locked it all away. Her mouth was so dry.

Sasuke walked over and stood beside the couch. "So. What do you say?"

"Why is it that you want me to leave so badly, Uchiha? Maybe Naruto doesn't want me to leave."

"Don't get cocky. He's pathetic."

Tenshi snarled. "How so?"

"He cares too much."

Tenshi bolted up, as quick as lightning, her chest heaving. She wanted to yank out chunks of his messy black hair and gouge out those empty eyes. She wanted his very flesh under her nails and she wanted his apology. Every nerve and fiber in her being was on fire. She wanted to cry again, to break down in tears on the white carpeted floor and spill her soul. Her teeth gnashed together as she pointed a shaky finger at Sasuke, her skin livid, eyes spinning like hurricanes as she approached him.

"Do you want to know what your problem is?" she mumbled, her voice cracking.

"Enlighten me, princess," he mocked with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don't care at all. You make me _sick_," she hissed.

His pale lips quirked. "News flash: your opinion doesn't mean shit to me."

Tenshi's heart died in her chest. That was it. It just completely stopped beating. But she was still breathing and thinking with a dead piece of flesh lodged in between her lungs. Her blood thinned in her protruding veins as she held onto her stomach. She decided that she must've been going into cardiac arrest. "I could kill you," she told Sasuke.

He didn't smirk. "I supposed that's one of your best attributes."

She ran to the nearest bathroom and vomited.

Thin, sallow-colored fluid left her lips and dripped down into the toilet. Her hands tightened around the porcelain seat of it as she heaved two more times, only to have nothing come out. Her throat constricted, but her esophagus stretched open. She slowly stood up on shaky, thinning legs and walked to the sink, throwing water into her mouth and not once looking up to see her reflection. The minute she turned off the water, she heard a car pull up to the house. Tenshi groaned and snatched off one of the towels hanging from two hooks, vigorously wiping her mouth and then the sweat off her forehead. She neatly put it back in its place and then sprinted into the living room where Sasuke had made himself comfortable by sitting lazily on the couch and reading a magazine. She moved passed him into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of orange juice and took one tiny sip.

When Naruto walked through the door with an easy, yet practiced, grin on his face, the scene looked rather ordinary to him. Sasuke relaxing while Tenshi was drinking. They looked like they had been completely quiet the entire time.

He shoved his keys into his back pocket. "Did you two behave while I was gone?"

Sasuke looked up and grimaced. "Shut up, dobe."

Tenshi downed the rest of her juice and tossed the glass into the sink, gathering her hair and putting it in front of her left shoulder. She walked up to Naruto and stood directly in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. He smiled down at her.

"What was wrong?" she wondered.

"Nothing. Just some of my friends being stupid."

She frowned. He had more than one friend after all, even if he was terribly odd.

She jumped slightly and unnoticeably when he put both hands on her head to run his thin fingers through her hair. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his chin, wanting to brush her teeth before she even thought about kissing him on the mouth. But it wasn't the vomit that she was afraid of him noticing.

It was Sasuke's taste.

Naruto's lips separated into a glorious grin, exposing all his teeth. Tenshi wanted to take his hand and sit on the beach in the sun and to get away from the Uchiha, but her plan was interrupted when Sasuke suddenly appeared beside her. It took everything in her being to not hunch over and _growl_. Her hand traveled to Naruto's back, fingers unconsciously tightening in his shirt. Sasuke was standing so close to her that their hips were slightly touching. She glared up at him through her lashes and then glanced at Naruto, whose head was slightly bobbing up and down in agreement to whatever Sasuke was saying.

Tenshi couldn't hear his voice, however, as her attention was solely focused on how completely different the two men were.

Naruto could only be described as the sun. He radiated a golden and happy aura that, honestly, made Tenshi's legs weak. His skin was the color of caramel, his hair was auric, and his eyes were as deep and penetrating as the ocean in his backyard. He had a one hundred watt smile and the personality to match. And then there was Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke with the nonchalant attitude and the dark, brooding looks. He was Naruto's exact opposite; he was the moon. The cold, chilling moon that Tenshi thought made Naruto look dead whenever it shined its fatal light on his beautiful face. She shuddered involuntarily and scooted away from him a bit, pressing the side of her face against Naruto's chest so that she could hear the faint murmur of his heart. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she took in the sound.

It was something beautiful and something beautiful for her.

"Do you wanna go, Tenshi?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Huh?"

Naruto smiled, his hand locking behind her neck over her hair. "Sasuke's going to a summer festival tomorrow night. Do you wanna go?"

Her mind went blank for a second. "With him?"

"Sure."

Tenshi's hand fell limply from his shirt and smacked against her legs. She stared at him, baffled at first, and then pure, white-hot rage bubbled in her stomach. Both her fingers knotted into each other, her knuckles popping as she struggled to think of something to say. She was upset because Naruto was an idiot. Why did he trust her so much? Better yet, why he couldn't tell that Sasuke was obviously hiding something from him? Tenshi could see the Uchiha's eyes narrowing and then widening ever so slightly, the way the side of his neck pulsed quick in the excitement of his deceit.

But maybe she just knew a liar when she saw one.

Naruto slightly shook her shoulder, trying to get her attention and leaned down to kiss her flawless forehead. "What's the matter?" he whispered.

Sasuke tilted his head high and crossed him arms over his chest.

Tenshi smiled. "Nothing. I'm just glad I'm going to see some fireworks." Honestly, she was twinge bit happy. She had never seen fireworks before. Okaa-san never really had time.

Naruto bit on his bottom lip, his eyes searching hers for an emotion that she didn't have.

* * *

After she had gotten out of the shower—an hour and a half of scrubbing Sasuke off her skin—she'd eaten some cereal, afraid she wouldn't be able to stomach anything too heavy, and laid down on the couch to watch television. It was around three or four in the morning and the men had been asleep for hours now. She had to sneak out of Naruto's bed, and it had taken six whole minutes to pry his arms from around her body.

He was a leech, but she liked that he was so protective. It was something different and rather refreshing.

She turned over on her back and crossed her hands over her stomach, slightly pressing on it. Her hair was splayed around her head like a black silken halo, draping over the pillow she was under and barely touching the floor. She decided she would need it cut soon.

Her legs rose up to connect with her chest, her cotton shorts bundling under her, tightening, knees pressing up the fabric of the yellow tank top she wore. She gathered herself up into a ball, held her breath, clenched every muscle in her body and then relaxed. She repeated the process two more times before rising off the couch and fixing her pajamas.

Doing relaxation exercises had gotten through some rather tough times, and she would need to be as calm as possible if she wanted to have any kind of confrontation with Uchiha Sasuke.

Tenshi kept the television on, but turned it down slightly, throwing the remote back onto the sofa and making her way down the hall. She ran her hand down the wall, running her fingers over pictures that she didn't want to look at. When she made it to Naruto's room, she peeked in and saw him buried under covers and pillows, one his legs hanging off the bed. He was snoring quietly but distinctly, and she reached out to close the door silently.

Sasuke was sleeping in the last room down the hall and his door was already closed. She didn't know exactly what she was doing when she crept in, shut the door, and stood in front of his bed, pulling her shorts down.

He slept pretty normally, just like she remembered. He was on his stomach with his head buried in his pillow, arms shoved under it. His breathing was calm.

She eased up closer to the foot of the bed, bracing her hands on it, when he turned over on his back. The movement was slow and highly usual for someone asleep, but it nearly sent her falling to the floor. She backed up slightly, now nervous that he'd wake up, but gently put one of her knees on the bed and climbed up. None of Naruto's furniture ever creaked.

Tenshi moved like some sly animal, crawling over Sasuke on the bed until their hips were vertical. She sat down his pelvis with her legs folded on either side of him. She let out a swift exhale, readjusting herself to be more comfortable and, with very little pressure, placed her hands at Sasuke's sides. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could feel the coldness of his skin piercing right through hers and making her blood run rigid. She bent over, hair making a curtain around them, and stared into her face. Her lips turned to the corner when she got an idea to just smack him while he was lying under her completely defenseless, but when she raised her hand to do so, he grunted. "What are you doing?" he asked in a husky voice. Tenshi's head cocked to the side. "How long have you been awake?"

He opened his black eyes. "I heard you walking in the hallway."

Well, damn.

He propped himself up on his elbows and frowned, his hair even messier then before. She watched the sinewy muscles in his arms as he raised himself and saw the clenching of his toned stomach and chest as he supported her weight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. She wanted to make him mad, to make Naruto furious, and still know that she was just as rotten on the inside to make up for the perfection that others saw on the outside. Sasuke put his hands on her then moved to her legs. Her eyes had already drifted halfway shut when he muttered, "I'm not having sex with you here." Tenshi threaded her fingers through his mangled locks. "We can do it anywhere, I don't care." She wanted to rip every strand of ebony from his scalp.

Sasuke dug his thumbs into her thighs until she leaned up in aggravation. "You know what I mean. I'm not fucking you in Naruto's house."

"Oh, so you're _that_ kind of guy." She smiled knowingly.

He blanched. "Get off me."

"Why are we going to a festival tomorrow?" Her arms locked around him.

He smirked, his hands moving back under her legs. "To help you leave, remember? You can leave from the festival since the dobe won't let you out of his sight." Sasuke's mouth suddenly connected with the side of her neck. She squeezed his shoulders, finding it rather strange that he wanted her gone so badly. The thought was rudely swiped away, however, when her hips slammed into his, causing some uncomfortable friction. "Stop moving," Sasuke growled.

Tenshi pushed back some of her hair. She could recall moments where they'd spent time together, and she had burned every one of Sasuke's careful touches on her brain. He wasn't the kind of man that went right for her breasts. When she took off her shirt, his eyes never left hers. Instead, he would trace circle on her hips and press into them with his knuckles. They were his favorite thing to hold on her. Tenshi had been flattered at first, and then utterly embarrassed. She had been around seventeen at the time and so, so stupid. Everything about what they had was a mistake, and she regretted every moment of it.

Sasuke gripped her tightly, his fingers making prints in her skin, and kissed the column of her throat before their lips met in a hard, loveless kiss. There was no passion or desire; Tenshi felt rather empty.

She was the first to pull away, scooting closer to him and laying her head in the slope between his neck and shoulder. The tip of her cold nose touched his even colder skin and they formed an icicle. He sighed into her hair and closed his eyes. Sasuke was terrified of this girl. It was the truth. Her beauty, her wall of glitzy glamour, made him fear what she would to his spirit. He wasn't afraid he'd start to like her or anything. No, that was silly. He worried that if she stayed around him any longer in Naruto's house, he'd began to _want_ her; want her like he did those some years ago and had gotten them both in so much trouble. She was a beautiful burden, and Sasuke—though he would never admit it—valued his long time friendship with Naruto. Tenshi would have to go.

She whispered something against his skin. "What?" he asked. Her mouth was pulled into a small smirk. He frowned, knowing she was up to something, and shuttered when her hands wandered under the covers to grip him through his pajama pants. He had a lot of willpower, but Tenshi was the kind of girl that could drive a man over the edge. She bit the tip of her tongue, running her thumbs up his hardening length, giggling when he roughly smashed his lips together into a thin line.

"Stop," he seethed, hips rising off the bed.

Tenshi pouted. "So you were serious about the no sex thing?"

Sasuke scowled, taking her hands and putting them behind her back, and then shoving her shoulders so that she fell off him and onto the bed. She laughed, sitting up and fixing her hair. "Prude," she said and got up, slipping her shorts back on.

"Get out."

"Oh, Uchiha, stop pretending like I don't have an effect on you."

"You don't."

Tenshi's brow rose. "Uh-huh. Have fun in that cold shower." She watched him look down and then his hand rose to his forehead while he muttered "fuck!" and then she scurried out of the room and closed the door behind her. She checked on Naruto once more, only to see him still sleeping, and walked pass the living room and kitchen to get to the back door where the ocean was telling stories. She felt a twinge of something she couldn't recognize as she thought about having to leave so early, right when she started to get used to Naruto's house. She would miss him too, if only slightly. The sex with him was great.

She opened the always unlocked door and tiptoed on the cool sand to the water, plopping down in front of it only so the water tickled her toes. She would miss the setting and rising of the sun from Naruto's bed, the fresh, free air, the sand under her feet, and spaciousness of the house. She would even miss Naruto's mentally-challenged, love struck fish.

When she smiled genuinely and leaned back to hold onto her knees, she heard a small purr from beside her. Her eyes widened. A tiny white kitten pressed its face into her legs. Her lips pulled into a snarl as she pushed it away, watching its little legs toppling and its body falling into the sand. It struggled to get back on its feet, and she felt her dead heart break. "Christ," she said when it looked up at to reveal odd-eyes. One of its irises was silver and the other gold. Its nose was bright pink and its ears were lying back on its small head.

Tenshi bit her lip and scooped the weak, injured kitten from the sand and cuddled it in her arms. It purred in contentment and nuzzled under her neck. She rubbed its back and saw that it had no tail, just a little knob of fur. Grabbing its back legs and lifting them, she identified that the kitten was a boy.

"I had a cat like you," she whispered, referring to Akiku. After she and Okaa-san had left their home, Akiku had just disappeared.

Tenshi held the soft bundle of optic white fur close to her and listened to him purr. She instantly fell in love with his imperfect eyes and lack of tail, and realized that even after she had to leave the comfort of Naruto's home, she would take this kitten back with her.

"Do you want to be Akiku, huh?" she asked him, laughing when he yawned in return and revealed tiny white teeth. "I think you like that. You'll be my baby." Tenshi cuddled with Akiku on the shores of the ocean until the sun began to rise and she relished in the last one she would get to see so close up. Her hands held the kitten's head, rubbing its ears until it drifted off to sleep in her lap. With the quiet, she debated her choices on whether or not she would have sex with Sasuke, and after thinking, she decided that she would.

And it was only to prove to herself that she hadn't—and would never—change.


	9. 08: Cannibal

**Cannibal **by **Ke$ha**

* * *

_I eat boys up,  
__Breakfast and lunch._

**.08.  
cannibal**

Tenshi carried Akiku into the house and closed the back door behind her, setting him on the floor next to her feet and frowning when he just sat there and stared. She shrugged, making her way to the kitchen to give her new pet a piece of fish when Naruto suddenly appeared behind her.

She spun around, Akiku right on her heels and felt her arms go slack by her sides. "Where did you go?" he asked. "I woke up and you weren't beside me. I thought you'd run away…" He leaned against her, and she could tell by his narrowed eyes that he was sleepwalking again. Tenshi held him around his waist to keep him steady. His hands wove into her hair and his lips met her ear. "You smell good," he said. She rolled her eyes. "Let's go back to sleep," she offered, and almost let a smile slip when he grinned stupidly and laced his fingers through hers. She didn't say anything about the cat yet; she just walked with Naruto into his bedroom and didn't close the door until Akiku was in the room as well.

When Naruto got under the covers and fell right back to sleep, she bent down and scooped the kitten up, nuzzling him in arms beside her pillow. It took him a short while to get comfortable, but he soon descended into slumber, snoring just like Naruto. She rubbed his head, reaching behind her to drape Naruto's arm over her waist.

His grip instantly tightened there.

* * *

"Tenshi…"

"I don't care what you say, I'm keeping him."

"What if he's sick or something?"

"He's too little. Besides, I would know."

"Yeah? How would you know?"

"Naruto."

"Hmm?"

"Shut up." Tenshi tried to stop from giggling into her cereal as she watched Naruto pout. Akiku was in her lap, staring at her, his fascination a bit confusing. "Look at him," Naruto said. "Look how he's looking at you." Tenshi rubbed his back, staring into his odd-eyes as he cocked his head to the side and mewed. Her mouth parted slightly as she realized what she hadn't noticed the moment she'd taken him off the shores of the beach. "He loves me," she whispered. It was the love an animal, a _baby_ at that, but it was love.

Naruto walked behind her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, sliding his fingers underneath the straps of her tank top so that his skin warmed hers. She had never touched another human being that was so warm. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, whispering in her ear and making her smile. She put her spoon in her mouth and bent her head down to move him off, but he held her steady, his hands roaming down her sides. She held her breath to keep from laughing as he began to slightly tickle her, still placing light kisses on her face. When she felt his fingers roam underneath her shirt and pinch her, she broke out into a short-lived titter, her spoon falling out from between her pink lips and hitting Akiku's head. "Naruto," she gasped playfully, holding the kitten to her chest.

"You're ticklish," he clarified, bending next to her. She looked down at him, lips sealing themselves shut. He had made her laugh, and now her heart was clenching painfully. Absent-mindedly, she reached out dug her fingers into his messy blonde hair, twirling the sunshine strands over her fingers. She felt queasy all of sudden and didn't dare glance at her unfinished breakfast, but instead concentrated on Naruto's blue eyes. Would it really be a mistake to stay with him, if only for a little while longer? _Ask me, _she pleaded internally, willing him with her hurricane-gray irises. _Ask me to stay again._

"Dobe."

She rolled her eyes at hearing Sasuke's monotonous voice, glad that Naruto didn't see her obvious irritation. The Uchiha walked into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets and tossed his head into the direction of the back bedrooms. "Your phone's ringing," he said to Naruto, who quickly lifted himself from Tenshi. "It might be Kiba about Choji," he said aloud to himself and quickly hurried into his room to answer it. Sasuke never broke gazes with Tenshi as he walked around the kitchen table and sat right in front of her. His eyes traveled down to the kitten in her lap, a scowl forming. "What is that?" he spat. Akiku's ears flattened.

She arrogantly crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "_What_ do you want?"

"Tonight," was all he said. She grinned rather sadistically. "On one condition, though." He almost snorted. "And what would that be?" She stood, her kitten in one hand, and picked up her cereal bowl, nonchalantly tossing it into the sink. "You fuck me." He smirked. "That's your condition?"

"Yes."

He wanted to, _fuck_, did he want to. But he _couldn't_. Tenshi was a drug; she was pure poison and he would be instantly addicted. He started to slowly shake his head back and forth, frowning when she stomped over to him and leaned in close, her body between his legs. "Then I'm not leaving." His hands clenched in fists, looking at her and then at the mutated kitten in her arms. "What's wrong with that thing?" he asked. Tenshi's mouth faltered from its conniving grin and melted into something akin to embarrassment. She looked as if he'd just told her one of her tits was hanging out of her shirt. Sasuke watched her lean up and carefully smoothed the cat's white, fluffy hair into place, her eyes on his as she muttered, "There's nothing wrong with him." He knew she was referring to his strange eyes. He rolled his own black ones halfway up into his head just when Naruto came bouncing back in. The blonde smiled at him and then walked over to the girl, his arms going around her.

"Who was on the phone?" she asked in the softest voice he'd ever heard her speak in.

"My friend. He's in the hospital."

"What's his name?"

"Choji."

Sasuke snorted. "For what?"

Naruto laughed at the memory of Kiba's story and started to recite it. After he was finished telling what happened, he sat down in the girl's seat. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to think of her name; the real one or the pseudonym. Naruto rested his cheek on his fist. "You two should start getting ready." Sasuke frowned. "It's two o' clock."

"So? The fireworks start at seven!"

"Shut up."

"Why?" Naruto pouted.

"You're yelling again. You don't know how _loud_ you actually are, do you?"

At that moment, she came around the table and gently placed the animal on the floor, her hands grabbing Naruto's arm, their fingers meeting and then intertwining. "Help me get dressed," she whispered. His faced reddened considerably. Sasuke quietly seethed as she tossed him a smug smirk, one of victory. He stood from his chair. "I'm going out." He tugged a hand through his hair, grabbed his keys from the mantle and walked out of the back door.

Naruto squeezed her hand to bring her back down to earth. She gave a slight something that wasn't a smile, but wasn't a frown, shooed Akiku away so he wouldn't follow her, and followed behind Naruto into his room. He walked over to the dresser and rummaged through some drawers. "I'm sure I bought a kimono. I'm positive." Tenshi began to shimmy out of her shorts, leaving them on the floor as she stepped over them and wrapped her arms around his back. She kissed him through his T-shirt, her skin automatically warmed by his presence. He turned around in her embrace and smiled, rubbing her arms up and down. "What's the matter?" he whispered. Tenshi's pink lips parted slightly as she stood on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his perfectly sculpted mouth. If this was the last time she would ever get to touch him, she wanted to make it lasts as long as possible. She had never, ever had relations with someone where it was slow_and_ completely willing. Everything always went by too fast, and she usually blocked out the feelings of her muscles aching to be let go of and left alone. In a way, she wanted Naruto to be her first.

Her arms went around his neck, her breath leaving her lungs when he crushed her into his hard chest. His hands roamed her sides, making her giggle, and then she pulled back from him with a smile on her face. Naruto was shocked and flustered. "Are you okay?" he double-checked. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment before they reopened. "Yes." _No. I'm not ever okay. _She took his hand in hers and walked over to the bed, climbing on it and lying down on her back, hands on her stomach. Naruto got the hint about two minutes later and copied her movements until he was hovering over her with his arms on either side of head. She raised her arms to brush her hands over his strong shoulders. "Touch me like we're in love," she choked out, voice cracking. Naruto's eyes smoldered and ignited, his eyebrows lifting but his lids narrowing. He kissed her jaw line. "We _are_ in love."

She wanted to feel what it was like. She wanted the happily-ever-after, the fairytale romance, but she'd never have it with him. He didn't want damaged goods. He didn't deserve that. _She_didn't deserve him.

He kissed down the length of her neck and onto her collar bone, hands lightly squeezing her sides. It wouldn't be rough and needy this time. She smiled again when Naruto came back up to kiss her, and they spent a lot time doing just that. She'd never kissed someone as long as she'd kissed him. Truth be told, she wasn't even a good kisser on the fact that she didn't get to kiss too much.

He finally pulled back from her red swollen lips and swiftly took his shirt off. Tenshi's eyes brightened as she took time to feel every twitch, ever nerve and muscle through his torso. She decided she loved his back the most. He grinned down at her and tugged her tank top over head, surprised she wasn't wearing a bra. Her breasts hung haughtily firm on her chest. Naruto spread her legs and positioned himself comfortably in between them, their bare stomachs touching, and took one of her dark nipples into his mouth. She hissed in pleasure, her back arching off the bed. He had his large hand on the other soft mound of flesh, rolling her bud between his fingers. His teeth and tongue worked magic against her skin, sending her hands flying to his head. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth when he switched his mouth to other breast and bit down on it.

She whimpered, and Naruto found a new favorite sound. Her legs wound around his, pushing their pelvises together. He licked her breasts from the underside to the top, making her legs go sporadic, and gently molded both in his hands, thumbs pushing into the nipples while he kissed her neck. He could tell by the way she wasn't screaming at him to hurry up and fuck her already that she wanted to go slow today, so he worked his way down her toned stomach and kissed her navel. Tenshi gulped, fingers trembling in his hair. She was nervous, and she never got nervous.

Naruto held her thighs apart and kissed her through her panties.

She shot up instantly.

"W-What—" she cleared her throat, "are you doing?"

He smirked, and gently pushed her back down. "Relax," he cooed. Her heart was racing a mile a second, almost causing pain to spread out through her ribcage. The heels of her hands dug into her eyes, her teeth gnashing together to keep from screaming. They'd only had sex once and she could say it had been the best she'd ever had only because she had wanted it so badly. But now, as Naruto peeled her silken panties down her lean legs and tossed them to the floor before hooking her thighs around his shoulders, she was sure. Every muscle was pulsing, her body was on fire, and her tongue felt like sand paper in her mouth. She whined in protest and utter need when he pressed his lips on her wet skin, tongue jutting out to lick her pink folds. Her hips jerked, and he could now see just how _tiny_ she was.

He used his fingers to spread her, watching her skin stain red as heat crawled through, his lips sucking her clitoris between his teeth.

Tenshi sat up again, her forehead beaded in sweat. She desperately dug her fingers into his scalp to make him stop or else she would explode from the inside out. He gave her one harder lick, causing her to moan loudly, and then pulled himself up to bury his face in the crook of her neck. She sighed; her inner thighs were soaked, and put her arms around his neck. "Don't tease me," she said in his ear.

She felt him grin against her skin. "You liked it." He slid two fingers easily into her as proof, watching her jaw go slack and eyes widen.

In less than a minute, Naruto had his pants and boxers off and thrown across the room, holding Tenshi's legs still. She ran her hands down his chest, her fingernails pushing into his flesh. He bit his lip as he entered her, her muscles contracting around him, instantly milking him of everything he had. Their hips roughly bumped together as they perfected a rhythm as old as time, Tenshi's head tossed back, hair splayed across the pillows. Her mouth was in the shape of a permanent "O" as she gripped Naruto's sides, her fingers slipping from his skin with every thrust. He leaned down and kissed the shell of ear, arms going around her waist. They morphed into each other, her legs winded around him, and then they both burst. Tenshi gasped, her breath trapped as she struggled to breathe, her vision bursting into a kaleidoscope of non-existent colors.

Naruto sighed and laid his head on her chest while she strung her fingers through his hair, bodies as destructive as the sun clashing straight into the moon.

Tenshi wanted to fall asleep right there, with him still pulsing softly inside her, but her hesitant and fearful side said so otherwise. What if Sasuke were to suddenly come back? She frowned and looked down, sitting up a bit so that Naruto would move as well. He pulled out, making her shiver at the strange loss of warmth, and then kissed her. He didn't know why she was acting so different, but he went with it. He would do whatever he had to in order make her happy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She smiled. It was closed-mouthed and small, but it was the kindest, innocent and most vulnerable that he'd ever seen her face that it made his heart fall into his bladder.

"I'm fine," she said a very tiny voice. "Will you come with me to the bathroom? I need to take a shower."

His eyes widened a bit. "S-Sure. Anything you want."

She pushed some hair back and grabbed his much larger hand, lacing their fingers. They walked to the bathroom and got into the shower, Naruto pouring liquid soap over Tenshi's head. He washed her hair and then she washed his. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before she and Sasuke had to leave for the festival. She could've said no to him; that she didn't want to leave, but she decided that she wasn't going to put her feelings first this time.

She was trying to protect Naruto's heart.

Their bathing lasted about an hour and then they both stepped out to dash back into the bedroom to get dressed.

Naruto had indeed bought her a kimono; an extraordinarily beautiful one. He took it out of the walk-in closet and put it into her arms. Her fingers traced over the silk as she stared awe struck at the bold, royal blue hue of it. It had a series of black dots that formed into petals and then flowers that ended at the hem. The sleeves were long, and when she slipped it on over some black lingerie she saw that it stopped above her knees; a very modern piece. Naruto gave her some back flip flops instead of the traditional shoes and she pulled her long hair into a high ponytail, her front and side bangs hanging near her face.

"You're beautiful," he said after she was dressed, pulling his orange T-shirt down.

She rubbed her face. "I don't have any makeup."

Naruto smiled and kissed her left cheek and then her forehead. "You don't need it."

She looked down. _"You're much too pretty for paint."_

"Yes, I do."

Her hands began to shake slightly as he combed her fingers through her put up hair and opened the door of the bedroom to go in the kitchen to get some water. Akiku was waiting for her, and walked on her heels with his small paws around the house until she sat down in the living room to watch television. She picked him up and put him beside her, smiling when he meowed lovingly and laid his head on her thigh.

Naruto made himself some ramen and fried two eggs to put into it.

It wasn't until 6:33 PM that Sasuke walked in the door wearing new clothes.

He saw Tenshi sitting on the couch and quickly looked away from her while her eyes stayed glued to his attire. He was wearing an expensive-looking black shirt and even more expensive-looking jeans with black sandals.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Mind your business," he tossed back, walking into the kitchen to talk to Naruto.

He hadn't been seeing Karin for too long now, but when he did he usually regretted it. She was clingy and whiny with that _God_-awful red hair. She possessed all the qualities that he found nauseating in a woman but he tolerated her company for two reasons: her body was bangin' and she liked to buy him things.

He didn't like her—he didn't even know her last name—but she had money and her apartment had been something of his getaway.

In the kitchen, he roughly tapped Naruto on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey!" the blonde said. "What was your up your ass?"

_Your little girlfriend. _"We should really leave now."

"What time is it?"

"Almost seven."

Naruto looked him and down. "You, uh, been shoppin'?"

"_Shut_ up."

"Hmm. Whatever you say, teme. Tenshi! Time to go!"

He started eating his food and walking into the living room to get her. When she saw him, she quickly stood and picked up Akiku before taking a second glance at the cat. It would look too suspicious if she brought him with her, so she sucked in a deep breath and kissed his pink nose, setting him back down on the sofa. Naruto would look after him.

She heard Sasuke playing with his keys, and when Naruto put his food down on the coffee table, she rushed into his arms and held him tightly to her. He stumbled, surprised, but returned her affection and kissed the top of her head. She breathed in his masculine fresh-out-the-shower scent and rubbed her face in his shirt before realizing what she was doing and pulled back. He gave an uneasy smile. "Are you positive you're okay?" She was back on defense. "Yes, now _stop_ asking me that." She tightened her ponytail and looked around the room. She hadn't brought anything with and she was leaving just the same.

It was fitting.

Naruto touched the small of her back and kissed her temple. "I love you," he whispered. "See ya later."

Tenshi, eyes hardening, nodded. At that moment, she didn't know what she was agreeing to.

Sasuke opened the back door. "C'mon, or we're gonna be late."

She leaned up and kissed him very softly, his bottom lip caught between hers, and spun around to follow Sasuke. She heard Akiku whine and it made her throat constrict.

As they walked out the back door and closed it behind them, Tenshi kept her head cast down, staring at her feet. She noticed the bulging purple and green veins running through them, the tendons protruding with every step they took. She also noticed she was slightly pigeon-toed. That new found thought stayed with her as he followed Sasuke around the house to the front yard where a garage was. It was already open, and inside were two cars; a silver sleek one and large, shiny black one. Automatically, she knew which one was his.

He took his keys out of his pocket and hit a button to unlock the doors.

Tenshi was then rudely reminded of the Hyūga Hiashi.

"Get in," he told her, walking around to the driver's side.

She fiddled with the hem of her kimono for a moment, and when she realized what she was doing she scowled in disgust of her nervousness and quickly made her way to the car. She climbed in and put her seatbelt on, hands braced on her lap. Sasuke started the car up and sped out the driveway. She closed her eyes so she couldn't see which way he was going to get onto the road. She wanted this moment forever erased out of her memory. After about ten minutes, she peeled her eyes open and saw darkness ahead of them. The sun was already starting to set.

She couldn't deny that she was a bit excited about seeing fireworks for the first time. It had been her childhood dream and now it was finally coming true.

"Exactly how will we execute this?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

She glanced at him, her lips turning. "You're the mastermind here."

He smirked, watching from the corner of his eye as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why are you here?" she said.

"I should be asking you the same thing."

Why _was_ she there? "I don't know," she confessed. "I don't know…anything anymore." Her understanding of life had always been a bit twisted though.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're reckless."

Her hands clenched into tight fists, knuckles white. "I'm _what_? How dare you? You don't know anything about me."

"I _know_ you," he clarified.

Her eyes lidded, glazed, hurricanes spinning catastrophes. "This is your first time seeing me in two years."

"And I didn't plan on it either." He made a sharp left turn. Tenshi stared at him; his hard eyes, his pale skin, his dark hair. "Don't you have any remorse?" she muttered. She needed to know, to be sure. He made another turn, quicker this time. "No."

Her heart sank, withered. She mustered up the courage then to say something she shouldn't have said. It was cruel and even a person like Sasuke, who had hurt her in unimaginable ways, didn't deserve it.

She spat through clenched teeth, "You are just like _him_."

The car roughly halted to a stop. He turned to face her, the tips of his ears bright red. "I am _nothing_ like that sick son of a bitch," he said in a low tone that did, indeed, intimidate her. When a truck behind them honked, he started driving again. She was quiet for a moment, her eyes stinging. The rest of the drive was completely silent. She was thankful when they finally arrived to the summer festival and parked alongside it at a curb. People consumed the ground, vendors put up everywhere. By the look of it, they were just about to start cracking the fireworks. Tenshi's hand touched the car door, ready to wrench it open when Sasuke whispered, "I think about it sometimes."

Her stomach tightened. She looked back at him, nothing but frightened.

He looked up and took a deep breath. "A baby shouldn't have to die."

"Sasuke…"

"We were _stupid_."

"Please, don't. I can't—"

"You just said 'please' to me."

She felt the familiar ache of tears and tossed her head back into the leather seat, pinching the bridge of her reddening nose. "Don't do this."

"Why is it that when _I_ bring it up you get so emotional?"

She sniffed, mouth dry, tongue heavy. "Shut up."

"That's always your response," Sasuke mocked. "You try to avoid everything."

She leaned against the window and heard people yelling outside. "And you don't?"

"Not like you."

"You're an asshole."

"Fuck you."

Tenshi's lips rose at the corners as she swiftly turned around and was suddenly seated on his lap, hands pressed against his shoulders. He scowled and pushed against her hips, causing her back to hit the horn. She leaned forward, sultry and seductive, and kissed the underside of his jaw. Her hands hesitantly touched the lean muscles under his shirt and she couldn't help but notice his body wasn't like Naruto's, and it disappointed her. Sasuke's long fingers dug into her skin through her kimono, pushing her body closer to his. She kept her face near his neck, breathing in his scent. It was strange; even his smell was somehow…_cold_.

He yanked on her ponytail until her head snapped back with the force, allowing his lips to connect with the skin of chest and cleavage, his canines nipping her.

Tenshi held his hands on her hair, her mouth open in pain at the way his teeth were sinking into her flesh.

After a rather difficult struggle, she found herself in the backseat of his car, his broad body over hers, hands on her thighs keeping her legs around his waist and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, fingers webbing through his dark hair, breasts pressed flush against him, the smell of sex and steam filling the vehicle.

She couldn't deny that every moment of it felt good. She_ wouldn't_ deny it. But Sasuke wasn't Naruto. The sex felt good_, but he wasn't Naruto_.

Breathing hard, she tilted her head back as far as she could, enough to look up and see out the window. From her rolled-up vision, she saw her first firework, colors blinding and beautiful; popping and loud, sheer and bright. She smiled slightly, lids fluttering closed as Sasuke left his fingerprints on her skin, ignoring the tears that rolled out of the corner of her eyes.

* * *

"Get out."

Tenshi looked at Sasuke. "Just like that, huh?"

He turned his head, pulling his shirt over his head. She had decided to leave her hair down.

"Get outta here, Hinata," he whispered.

She covered her face with her hands, a pitiful, ragged sound coming out of her mouth. "Don't ever fucking call me that," she gasped. It was the way he said it. No emphasis, not in a smart way, not in a loving or caring way. He just said it. That was the worst part. "That's your name," he told her.

Tenshi quickly opened up the car door and piled out, her clothes a little distorted on her slender form. Before she closed the door, she stared at Sasuke for a moment while he kept his eyes straight, one hand on the steering wheel. Her breath flew out of her in a tiny wisp as she mumbled, "I used to love you, you know." He didn't move his head, but his gaze slowly traveled to her face. "You were right," she continued, "we _were_ stupid. But I was… _God_, I was a fucking idiot for even _thinking_ you'd be there for me when I needed you." Sasuke sighed. She raised her hand to wipe her eyes. "You're just like everyone else."

He leaned over in his seat and pushed her shaking hands away from the door, never breaking eye-contact as he grabbed the handle and shut it in her face. She put her palms against the window, desperate for some form of understanding and compassion from him. After a moment, he rolled it down.

"I'd change the past if I could. But you and me? It's too late for us."

She shook her head. "Too late? Too late for what?"

Sasuke smirked, but it was utterly cruel; it was beautiful. "Happiness."

And he sped away from the curb and down the street.

Tenshi stood, her mind spinning in thought. That wasn't true, was it? She put her arms around herself, suddenly freezing, and then realized one thing with terror.

She had left her rosary at Naruto's house.

She was too numb to feel anything but remorse, and she walked endlessly through the throng of people and stopped when she reached a crowd that was still watching fireworks. She enjoyed a few more before she caught a young man with dark hair and light brown eyes looking her up and down, and when their eyes met, he quickly turned away. Empty and confused, she sauntered discreetly to him and placed a hand on his back, amused when he jumped in response.

He was a little taller than her and very handsome.

"You were staring," she said matter-of-factly.

He flushed. "Sorry. You're just, ah, really beautiful."

Tenshi's hand snaked down to touch his hand. "Do you have any money?" She was absolutely broke, and if she wanted to get back to Red Heart, she needed _something_.

The boy's face turned even redder and he quickly nodded up and down. "Good," she purred, and quietly took him to and empty alleyway where she shoved him against a wall and played with his belt buckle. It took everything in her not to break down and cry like a baby at the fact she had forgotten her mother's rosary, but she would get it back, and Akiku too. She would get both of them back.

She smirked at the way the boy in front of her was trembling as he stuck her hands down his pants and leaned up to whisper in his ear. When he bent forward to kiss her mouth she ducked down, suddenly mortified. "I have a cold," she insisted. He just nodded again and rested his head against the wall.

Tenshi would never let another man kiss her again. They would ruin the memory of Naruto's lips.


	10. 09: Between Us

**Next 2 You **by **Chris Brown ft. Justin Bieber**

**Note: **Some people are asking about everyone's age. Hinata is **nineteen**, Naruto is **twenty-one** and Sasuke is **twenty-one** about to turn **twenty-two**. This story takes place during the summer if you don't remember, and his birthday is in July.

* * *

_One day when the sky is falling  
__I'll be standing right next to you._

**.09.  
between us**

Naruto sat on the couch next to Akiku, who had his head lolled over to the side, his odd-eyes cast down in what seemed to be sadness. His little body was curled underneath him, ears pressed flat to his small head as he quietly meowed. Naruto almost wanted to touch the little tips of his ears, just to let him know everything was alright.

He knew the feeling—all too well—of what it was like to be lonely.

Growing up, his father had been a very busy man, working as hard as he could for all the money Naruto now possessed, and his mother had been a nurse practically living at the hospital. When he was fifteen, both his parents were in a car accident. His father had died instantly, his mother in the hospital, and a friend of his father's came to look after him until he was seventeen—old enough to take care of himself and draw out his parent's social security.

He hadn't seen or heard from Jiraiya in four years, but he knew he was off somewhere writing novels that were selling quite well. The man even sent him checks every month just to make sure he was eating, but they never had return addresses on them.

Naruto had been living by himself for a long time with a girlfriend here or there, but he was mostly alone. He had enough money for a lifetime because of his parents and Jiraiya, yet he couldn't help but want more. He wanted stable; he wanted consistency and for some reason he saw that in Tenshi. Perhaps it was foolish to think he could get her to settle down with him, if only for a little while; if only so she wouldn't go back to who she was and he believed she could do it. When his mother was lying on her death bed, hours before she took her last breath, she told him that love was infinite, everlasting, and the he needed to find it again since she was leaving. He had cried, cried for so long over her body. She made him promise that he would love again, find the girl for him and then never let her go.

Tenshi wasn't exactly the girl of his dreams. She was more than that; she was real.

He had only been in love one other time in his life, and he had held down tightly, but she had let him go. He needed Tenshi now more than ever.

Akiku whined louder beside him, his eyes cast onto the back door where the moon's ominous glow was somehow slightly shining through the cracks.

Naruto frowned when the cat suddenly hopped of the sofa and raced to the door.

Sasuke came stumbling in a few seconds later, his legs twisted and arms flailing. He had a large container of sake in one hand and a cigarette in the other, taking a long drag of it when he was finally all the way into the house. He pushed Akiku away with the toe of his sandal, knocking his frail body over on the side. He then proceeded to wobble to the nearest chair and collapse beside it onto the floor.

Naruto stood to his full height, worried, and picked his drunken friend up by the collar of his expensive shirt. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked, shaking him a bit. Sasuke brought the sake bottle to his pale, wet lips and took a long swig, tipping his head back and laughing when Naruto smacked it from his hand.

"Well?" Naruto pressed.

"Life," he answered, smirking.

The blonde rolled his eyes, dropping Sasuke to the floor before he realized something was amiss. He quickly bent back over the Uchiha and grabbed his clothes once more. "Where's Tenshi?" he said slowly. Something flashed in Sasuke's eyes at that moment, an angry, hostile bit of something that, for a moment, frightened Naruto. He didn't let it completely faze him, however, as his hands inched to the paler man's throat.

"Where is she?"

Sasuke's black eyes lidded."She's gone," he croaked.

"You asshole! Did you leave her at the festival?" Poor Tenshi. Sasuke had probably gotten drunk at the festival and she had most likely wandered off by herself as he was rather annoying when intoxicated. Naruto sighed. "Stay here. I'm going to get her."

"Get her? She's _gone_."

Naruto was baffled for a moment. Sasuke must've been hammered out of his mind. "You better start making sense," he growled.

He just laughed, his smoke still dangling between his fingers. "After we fucked she got out my car and left."

"After you _what_?"

"Jesus Christ, Uzumaki. Are you fucking stupid?"

Something akin to a growl ripped itself from Naruto's throat. It was low and guttural, the noise resounding through his chest and bouncing off his ribcage before it echoed through Sasuke's ears. Naruto's hand snaked around his neck. "Fucking _explain_." Sasuke grinned, his black eyes hazy before he squirmed underneath the blonde man and scrunched his nose. "What's to explain?" he asked cynically, his mouth twisted up into a smirk. "She's been dying to fuck me." That was it. Naruto snapped his wrist to jerk Sasuke's head and then punched him across the face. His fist connected with the side of nose and his mouth somehow at that same time, leaving him spitting blood and his nostrils to flare up purple. Naruto got off him, cracking his knuckes. "I want you outta my house by the time I get back, you piece of _shit_," he whispered and angrily stalked out of the house, grabbing his keys and phone on the way. He was livid, frustrated, pissed, and seething. But most of all, he was hurt.

Sasuke groaned, holding his face and watched Naruto slam the door behind him before he sat up on the floor and quickly popped his nose back into place. It stung, and he was sure he would need to go the hospital, but he was too drunk to think straight.

However, as he wobbled to stand up, he did think about Naruto, and the only thing he wondered about was the strange, three whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He could tell they were scars by the way they had faded into a white-pink color. He found himself grabbing his bottle of sake and chugging down the little that was left in the bottle and pondered, _What the hell happened to his face?_

* * *

Tenshi had wandered up to a place called Acid, a gentlemen's club.

It wasn't as clean as Red Heart and the girls weren't as pretty, but when she had entered it and asked a woman if there were any open spaces, the woman laughed and hugged her. She told Tenshi that she knew exactly who she was and was glad she had finally come to her senses and gave Acid a try. So after being escorted to a room with three other girls in it by the old woman, who had a cigarette dangling between her wrinkled lips, Tenshi changed her clothes and put on a lacy red outfit, folding her kimono perfectly. Her hands shook as she ran her fingers over its material. While she moved to place it on a nearby dresser, one of the girls tapped her shoulder.

Tenshi spun around, frowning slightly, and watched the girl grin. "Hi!" she said, her smile widening. "I'm Emi!" Emi was a short, chubby-faced girl with long dark hair and brown eyes. She extended her pale hand and Tenshi slowly shook it, taking time to notice her own skin was almost grey.

She needed more vitamin D.

Emi's grip loosened a bit before it fell. "When are you going on?" she asked, adjusting her ponytail. Tenshi shook her head. "What do you mean?"

A second girl lightly pushed Emi out of the way and tilted her head. "On stage? To perform? I'm _always_ first."

They were strippers.

Tenshi felt her heart soar. She wouldn't be having sex with anyone. Her hand somehow found her heart as she let out a great breath, suddenly relaxed. "I don't know," she whispered. "It doesn't matter to me." The girl raised a slight brow as she sniffed and looked around, realizing that Tenshi would not argue about who went first. She mumbled, "I'm Hokuto." Hokuto was a tall girl with brown hair and dark, dusty grey eyes; two pieces of dirty rocks compared to Tenshi's moonlit irises. Emi and Hokuto chatted among each other, their words just a jumble of nonsense as Tenshi stared at the third girl who had not yet introduced herself. She was sitting on the floor in front of a bathroom, looking through a flood of pictures. Her tan legs were crossed Indian-style, her thighs lean, knees flawless as she flipped through photo after photo, dark hair tumbling down her back.

Tenshi was suddenly entranced just staring at the girl's back, watching her fingers put pictures in front of her legs, the slapping sound of them hitting her skin hypnotizing. She felt her feet move on their accord, her body beside the girl's, and then her bottom was on the floor too. The girl stopped organizing her photos and looked up, silver meeting maple. "Hi," she said. "Can I help you?"

Tenshi shook her head. No one could help her. But she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"What's your name?" And then she wondered: why did she care? But she did.

"Sari." The organizing started again. There had to be at least three hundred pictures. "What's yours?"

"_Get outta here, Hinata." _She flinched. _What is my name? _"Tenshi."

"Angel?" Sari murmured.

"Yes."

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She shrugged. "Maybe the same reason you're here."

Sari smirked. "You've got nothing better to do?"

Tenshi looked down. She did have something better to do actually. Her heart ached for Naruto. She would give up everything if she could just touch him again. Sari's smirk died into a small smile and as she put another picture down, a piece of it caught Tenshi's eye. Like lightning, her hand smacked down onto Sari's wrist, her lips parting, trembling. She snatched the picture away and held it two inches from her face with both hands. "What's your problem?" Sari asked.

Tenshi seethed, "Who is this? What's his name?" She was pointing to a young man. A young man whose touch had been burned into her hips at the age of fifteen. He was pale, beautiful, with hair the color of blood and eyes like the sea. He'd had sex with her on one rainy December night seven days before her birthday and she'd never seen him again. He was someone Orochimaru had introduced her to and they had been about the same age. He had been hesitant to do anything, but after they talked for a while—no names given—he was ready. And she had liked it. He was different from all the others; he was someone she could trust.

And Sari knew him.

"Listen here," Tenshi said, "I need to know his name. Tell me, _please_."

Sari's eyes filled with tears.

Tenshi felt her hand itch to strike the girl across her face, but her name was called by the old woman and she was pulled out of the room and into a hall, her eyes still on Sari and the picture still clenched in her fist. In her almost-see through dress and black high heels the woman tugged her by the forearm to a door that led to a stage. "Get out there and dance," she commanded. Tenshi blinked and peeked through the door where the men were chanting for another girl. She had never stripped before. Her cheeks reddened. "D-Do I…take my clothes off…?" God, why was she stuttering? She didn't get nervous. But as the woman rolled her eyes, blowing puffs of smoke in the air and pushed her roughly on the stage, she felt her heart plummet into her stomach. She stood awkwardly on the stage with her feet turned inwards, but then music started to play in the background, and the men seemed to be too bewitched by her beauty to notice she was not moving.

When the beat of the song sped up and hammered into her ear drums, she grabbed onto the pole in the middle of the stage and twirled around it, legs spread and pushed around it. She didn't know what the hell she was doing. After a moment, they didn't want to see her "dance" anymore.

They wanted her naked.

Cheers, chants, and shouts erupted in the joint for her to take off all of her clothes and Tenshi, for once, didn't know what to do. She stood there like a deer caught in headlights with her hands on her chest, picture in her fingers. She was overwhelmed with all the noise and she almost wished another girl would just come out and take her damn place already so that she could leave. But she swallowed her fear and inched her panties down, shrieking when a man reached up onto the stage and tore four buttons from her dress. "Take it the fuck off!" he yelled, scaring her.

Men didn't yell at her.

Tsuande would've killed him.

Her concentration was focused on the heavy man's hand trying to go into her panties, but the sound of a door slamming shut made her look up and around, and she could've died right there.

Naruto—_Naruto_—was in Acid.

And he was pissed the fuck off.

His eyes roamed the room for a moment until he saw the stage, saw his girl, with a man holding onto her legs. He ran towards the offender and punched him in his gut before he raised his leg and his foot met the man's face, knocking him to the ground. And then he grabbed Tenshi's hand and pulled her harshly from the stage and onto the floor, putting a hand around her waist. "Get the fuck outta my way!" he screamed to anyone that tried to block him, storming out of Acid and into the dark parking lot. He hurried to his car and once there, slammed Tenshi against the passenger side of it, hands on either side of her head. "What were you thinking?" he shouted. His voice cracked, broken, hurt.

Desperate.

Tenshi was silent. Her legs shook, her body held up by Naruto's pressed against her.

And then, without meaning to, she started bawling.

Naruto's eyes widened, his resolve for making her feel bad gone. Her arms wound around his waist as she cried louder. God, she wanted to melt into him. Her voice was tiny whisper, a squeezed, hoarse noise when she said, "You came back for me." Naruto looked down at her, put both hands on either side of her face, tilting her head up, and frowned. "Of course I did," he said. "I…I love you, alright? I do." And he didn't know why, but he did. He hadn't known her since childhood, they didn't have oodles of things in common, they hadn't met in a bookstore and spilled coffee on each other, but, damn it, he loved her.

"You came back for me," Tenshi said again. No one ever came back. They'd only left. Naruto wasn't like everybody else.

She sniffled and put her arms around his neck in the dark night, content, and smiled against his skin. Maybe.

Maybe she could love him too.

Just maybe.

He kissed her hair. "Don't leave me."

"I won't." She wasn't lying this time.

She leaned up and kissed his lips, savoring a flavor she thought she would never taste again, but then Naruto pushed her away. Her brows furrowed in confusion. He snarled, "I know what you did." Her knees shook. Oh, she had done so many bad things. Before he could get another word out, Sari was running towards them in the dark parking lot, calling out Tenshi's name. When she finally reached them, face red and out of breath, she gave a warm smile and said one word. "Gaara." Tenshi then remembered the picture that was still crinkled in her moistening hand. Naruto's eyes narrowed at Sari. "What?"

Tenshi stepped in front of him and grabbed the younger girl's shoulder, leaning down to kiss her forehead. It was the most passionate thing she could think to do. Sari smiled a weak little grin and Tenshi saw that she had her kimono bundled up in her arms. "You left this," she said. Tenshi shook her head. "Keep it for me, please?" Sari's eyes watered again momentarily, but she hurriedly wiped the tears away, spun on her heel, and raced back into Acid. Tenshi neatly folded the picture behind her back and slipped it into her underwear. Naruto was still livid. "What was that about? Who's Gaara?" She was silent. He grabbed her forearms. "Tell me." She sighed, wiggling out of his grip to hold his face. "It's nothing, okay? I swear; I promise it's nothing." She stood on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him again, but he turned his face so that her lips caught his throat. This action broke her heart. She had run away from love and now the man she cared most for didn't even want to touch her. Her lips began to sting. Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and opened the passenger door for her without saying another word and she climbed in, tears swimming in her eyes. He walked around to the driver's side, climbed in, and jammed the keys in the ignition.

"Are we going…home?" _You wouldn't take me back to Red Heart, would you?_

He looked at her, blue eyes ignited, and put the car in drive.

Tenshi felt her mouth drop slightly. His gaze went back to the dark road and she shut her eyes tightly, holding back her sobs, praying he wouldn't take her back to that whore house. She would die if she had to spend another day without his touch and be thrust, yet again, into hell. Her will not to weep was weak, and after a while she was softly crying in her hands, feeling the car wind further and further down the road. She didn't want to see where they were going. Soon, however, the car stopped, she heard shuffling from Naruto's side, and then he moved the car up a little more before turning it off. He touched her head. "C'mon."

Tenshi looked up, shaking, and saw they were back at the beach house. She smiled and wiped away her silly tears. She'd been very emotional lately. She hadn't cried like this for a while.

It was refreshing.

Naruto waited for her to get out of the car before he locked it, and she saw that Sasuke's vehicle was no longer parked alongside Naruto's. Shit. Is _that_ what he knew? She quickly followed him into the house, laughing when Akiku met her at the door. She picked up his soft white body and whispered promises of never leaving to him, kissed his nose, and cuddled him to her chest.

Naruto put his keys on the mantle and threw away some trash that was on the counter. Tenshi watched him for a second or two before she made her way to the bedroom and changed into one of his T-shirts and new pair of panties. She threw the lace dress and thong in the the trash and hid the picture under the bed. After washing her face and putting her hair in a neat ponytail, she lay down in the bed with her kitten on her stomach and waited for Naruto come back. An hour and a half later, she could still hear him rattling around in the kitchen. Her feelings were hurt, she had to admit, but there was no way she was hurt more than he was. She knew what she'd done with Sasuke was wrong.

And she was going to fix it.

Tenshi squared her petite shoulders and got off the bed, telling Akiku to stay while she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

He was dusting off the television.

"Naruto?" she squeaked, and then cleared her throat. "Naruto." More firm this time.

He ignored her for a moment, and then turned around and dropped the dusting utensil to the floor. His hands went to his eyes to dig the heel of his palm into them while he groaned in confusion and irritation. "Naruto…" she said again, taking tiny steps towards him. He put both hands through his messy blonde hair. "Why did you do it, huh?" he whispered, his voice pitiful. Tenshi, honestly, didn't know what to say. What _could_ she say?

"I-I, um…I'm sorry." She didn't apologize for her mistakes often.

He seemed surprised for a moment before his eyes got dark again. "That doesn't answer my question."

She put her arms around herself.

"Tenshi," he growled.

Her breath shook in her lungs.

He scoffed, condescending, angry. It hurt her. "So now you've got _nothing_ to say?" he mocked. "No smart-ass comment, huh? I bet you were screaming some things when you were riding Sasuke's—"

"_Stop it!" _Tenshi, unknowingly, was crying now, her hands pushed up against her ears. She looked up from her blurry gaze and watched Naruto swallow, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Her heart hammered, blood pumped with adrenaline as she raced to him, throwing her arms around his body. Tears, clear and beautiful, slipped from her hurricane eyes as she looked at him. "Please forgive me," she croaked. She had never wanted anything more. Naruto could take it all away, she realized. He could wash away her sin, he could love her.

Maybe he could even erase Orochimaru's touch from her skin.

She closed her teary eyes when she felt his arms go around her back, crushing her smaller form into his larger one. "He's my best friend," he pressed, still on Sasuke.

Tenshi gulped, "I know."

He let out a shaky breath. This was getting too emotional for either one of them to handle or comprehend. "Just tell me. God, tell me why, baby," he cooed into her hair. He believed Tenshi could be the one for him. She was broken, yes, and in desperate need of repair, but he knew that under all her hurt there was a good person waiting to break through. And he would dig until he found it.

She shook her head against his chest. One day she would tell him about her and Sasuke's ugly past, about everything. And she knew he would understand. "I will," she promised. Her fingers were pressed into his back like tattoos.

"When?"

"When you're ready."

He brought her head up and wiped a few of her stray tears with the pad of his thumbs. "Then I'll forgive you when I'm ready."

She nodded. "That's fair, I guess."

Naruto slid his hands down her arms, still a little iffy on all of this, but his grip tightened. "I won't lose you to him." _Not again._

Tenshi's eyes widened. She kissed his throat, mumbling, "Never." She felt him breathe through his chest. Her lips parted slightly. "Will…you sleep with me tonight? And I mean—sleep."

Naruto smiled slightly. "Of course."

Hand-in-hand, albeit fingers loose, they walked back into the bedroom where Akiku was waiting for Tenshi's return. While Naruto peeled the sheets back from the bed, Tenshi scooped the kitten up and rubbed his head. She moved a pillow from the headboard and almost dropped Akiku when she saw her rosary lying under it. Her eyes met Naruto's face, but he didn't say anything. She picked up the black cross, held it to her chest for a moment, and put it on the bedside table next to Ai's fishbowl. Then she and Naruto climbed into bed and she sunk into the sheets and pillows, his scent splayed over every inch. She wigged her body closer to his and put her arms around his waist with Akiku behind her, curved into her back. Naruto kissed her closed eyes. "I love you," he reminded her.

"I know," she uttered.

One day she would be completely happy. One day she wouldn't feel any more pain. One day she would say it back.

* * *

Consistent knocking woke Naruto up.

He groaned, cursing the sun for shining so brightly through his blinds and moved to get up, having to carefully unwind Tenshi's arms from his body. She was still knocked out, hair everywhere, pink mouth parted. He gently patted her hip and got out of bed, surprised to that Akiku didn't stir either. He left the door opened as he walked out of the bedroom, yawned and scratched a rather inappropriate place before he got to the door. He prayed it wouldn't be Sasuke. He had enough on his plate trying to man up and forgive Tenshi, but it was so hard. Sasuke was his friend, his best friend, but he really did not want to be around him at the moment. He knew that, maybe, they could talk about it and everything else would fall perfectly into place like a three-thousand piece puzzle, but then he remembered: he didn't know the whole story.

Those pieces were for Tenshi to drop.

Naruto yawned once more, fixing his hair a bit and then grabbed his cell phone from the mantle while the knocking continued. "Hold on a minute," he yelled, checking to see if Kiba or Shikamaru had called him or texted saying they were coming over. He had no missed alerts. He frowned, looking back at the door and unlocked it before turning the knob and pulling it open.

His phone tumbled out his hand and landed on the floor with a hard _thump_.

There, just over the threshold, was the girl he was supposed to have never seen again; the one that got away.

"…Sakura?"

* * *

**Okay, so. There will be no more Sasu/Hina from this point! A lot of you were really peeved about that! But Sakura is here now. Hmm. I'm trying to use as many people from the **_**Naruto**_** series as possible. For instance, Sari, Hokuto, and Emi are all from the show, and if you don't know who Sari is, look it up, 'cause she's important to the story. And I hope Naruto didn't seem too mean, did he? I mean, you'd be pissed too. **

**Also, just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the reviews. They are so wonderful and most of them are pretty nice, which I enjoy. **


	11. 10: Sunshine and Rain

**Drop the World **by **Lil' Wayne ft. Eminem**

* * *

_You keep the sunshine,  
Save me the rain. _

**.10.  
****when push comes to shove**

Haruno Sakura was living out her dream as a nurse in Tokyo, resting in a lavish two bedroom apartment in the quieter part of the city…alone. Sure, she'd had boyfriends—plenty—but she missed her old life with her friends.

She had started to miss Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

Now, as a twenty-two-year-old woman, she'd planned to pay her dear friends a visit, if only for old time's sake. When she checked up on Sasuke he hadn't been home, which was strange because he ran his dead father's business empire, Uchiha Corporations, and he was always home working. There wasn't a note or anything of the sort and when she called his cell, he hadn't picked up. Then she figured his number had probably changed.

It had been nearly three years since they'd last spoken.

But Sakura didn't give up. No, that wasn't in her nature. So she went to Naruto's, sure as anything that he would be home, and he was. She didn't need to call. She wanted to surprise him.

And that want, that desire to see her old friend again, brought her to his house.

And, God, she could not have come at a more wrong time.

Naruto's eyes were like blue saucers, red-rimmed from sleep. His feet were bare and he was shirtless with long black pajama pants over his legs. She couldn't help but gulp from seeing his naked torso again after such a long time, but she willed herself to look into his face and smile; bright, fake, and beautiful. She was good at playing pretend. Naruto shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "…Sakura?" Sakura cast another one of her famed smiles. "Can I come in?"

He stared at her a good six seconds before shaking his head and nodding furiously. "Of course, what was I thinking? Y-Yeah, come in, come in." He opened up the door only enough for her lithe body to fit through and softly closed it behind him, running a hand through his hair. He couldn't take his eyes off Sakura. Definitely she was still drop-dead gorgeous with her piercing green eyes and dyed, bright pink hair. It was a little shorter than he remembered, but still pushed back with a metallic headband that matched everything she wore. He looked down her body; her thin shoulders, small chest, flat stomach and long, lean legs. Her hips were still narrow, back still straight in her blouse and thigh-length black skirt, and the memory of his hands gripping her taught, white-pink skin flashed before his eyes before disappearing. He rubbed his face and looked down at the floor, the wheels in his brain spinning.

This was not good.

Sakura grinned widely and spun around, wisps of pink dancing. "Your house is still beautiful." Her lips, the same hue as her hair, stretched over her white teeth. Naruto chuckled. He used to love the way she smiled. Her canines were too short, her front left tooth was turned in—only slightly—and a thin line of her gums would appear when she grinned too hard.

He had loved it all.

He had loved her.

Sakura was suddenly beside him, touching his bare arm. "I missed you," she whispered. "I missed _this_."

She was confident, radiant, and beautiful. She knew that if she wanted him again, she could have him.

"Sakura, no."

Her saccharine, glitzy smile slipped.

That wasn't the case anymore.

She frowned at Naruto when he looked straight ahead in panic, bottom lip caught between his teeth as his cheeks reddened. Sakura huffed slightly before turning to meet whatever he was gawking at, and found herself getting flustered as well. In the hall, holding a white kitten was a young girl with long black hair and eyes like liquid stars. Her pale skin was flawless, face stunning as she walked into the living room and put the cat on the floor. Sakura's fingers slowly left Naruto's arm as she watched the cat stare up at her with different colored eyes. _Ah,_ she thought, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. The girl was like the moon; her skin glowed, there were dark gashes beneath her eyes, but she was absolutely beautiful. _Angel._

Naruto cleared his throat and eased away from Sakura a bit. "This is Tenshi," he said.

_Of course that's her name. Tenshi…_

Tenshi scowled. "Who the hell are you?" she asked Sakura. Her eyes blazed. She had never really been jealous before, but she could admit when she was. And now, she _was_. It was the worst feeling in the world and she never wanted to feel it again. But didn't her jealousy mean she cared? That she was, at least, a bit happy?

Sakura put a hand to her chest. "Sorry," she laughed, trying to be charming. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and friend of Naruto's."

Tenshi smiled. It was wicked. "A friend, huh? What do you want?"

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch. "Just…visiting."

"Hmm. I hope you enjoyed yourself."

Naruto frowned. "Tenshi."

"_What_, you?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"No."

Naruto rolled his eyes and walked over to grab her wrist, excusing them while he dragged her back into the bedroom and closed the door. He leaned back against it, arms crossed, blue eyes narrowed into thin slits. Tenshi gave a haughty laugh, rolled her eyes and copied his position. They stared at each other for a few moments before he asked, "What's your problem?"

Tenshi growled, "Who the hell is that girl?"

"She told you already. Her name is Sakura." He put his hands through his hair. He was confused as to why she had suddenly popped up and came to his house after so many years and on such short notice. He was worried and stressed. The black-headed firecracker in front of him tossed her head back, flopping her wild bangs and slowly shook her head. "What is she to you?" she muttered, walking closer. Naruto sighed. "A friend, baby. She's just a friend."

"You're lying to me."

_What?_ "No, no I'm not." He reached over and grabbed her hand.

She turned her face. "Yes, you are. I can see it in your eyes. Trust me; I know when I'm being lied to." Did she ever.

Naruto bit his bottom lip. "We…We were together a few years ago. But that's been over, and for a long time too."

"Did you love her?"

"Yeah."

Something happened in Tenshi's face. Her lips curled back into a condescending, knowing, regretful smile. It made his insides churn.

"Are you the type to get revenge, Naruto?"

He seethed, "Do _not_ make _this_ about _that_."

"Why not, _honey_? It all adds up. And she's _so pretty_."

"Tenshi—"

"Would you do it? Tell me the truth. It would only be what I deserve, right?" _I…I wouldn't be mad. _But it would break her heart.

Naruto's grip on her hand tightened. "Sakura's not like that."

_But are you? _"Of _course_ she is." _Everyone is._ "But she doesn't know you're mine yet."

Wait. Stop. "What did you just say?"

She felt her body fan hot, heat swimming into her face and splashing fire across her cheeks. The tip of her nose burned to a point where she had to touch it with the cool pad of her index finger to stop the stinging. Her legs trembled underneath the weight of her body as she swallowed what she had said. It was true, in a sense. He _was_ hers. Her name wasn't tattooed across his face or anything of the sort, but he was. She shook her head and turned away from him, her cheeks still hot. She could almost hear Naruto smiling. "Are you blushing?" he asked. "I've never seen you blush…"

"Hush," she said, not going for shut up this time.

Suddenly, his arms were wrapped tight around her shoulders. She put her hands on the surface of his dark skin and was amazed at the contrast. His mouth connected with her temple as he muttered, "You're mine too. Believe it." He put his face into the elegant slop of her neck, breathing in her scent as his hands roamed down her thin frame, hands kneading their way over her breasts and stomach before they flattened against her hips, pulling her back into his front. Somehow, the way he touched her had not been sexual. Something about his touch was comforting, sweet in one of the strangest ways. Whenever they kissed, his eyes didn't just hold that bed-lust that she was so used to. There was something else glowing like star dust behind them; the special "something beautiful" that Kurenai had told her about long ago. She felt it when he she turned her head to meet his careful gaze. She felt it when his fingers dug into her hips, noses brushing, lips touching. She felt it all the way down to her toes. _I won't lose you either._

Tenshi poked her tongue out slightly when the kiss was over and blinked while Naruto's arms raised and tightened around her waist. She turned around in his embrace, her heart heavy like a pound of cement hanging by a string. Her throat felt constricted. "Have you forgiven me yet?"

The look in his eyes went away. "Honestly?" he asked.

She nodded.

"No."

Tenshi sighed quietly and glanced down.

Naruto entangled his long fingers in her hair and brought her forehead to his lips and placed a single kiss there. "We don't have to talk about it." In all actuality, it pained him to even _think _about it. He knew that he and Sasuke would have to come face-to-face and confront this problem sooner or later, but he was scared. He'd never been in something as mind-shattering and heart wrenching as a relationship with the famed Tenshi, and the consequences had been hard to tumble over. But he knew he could get through it. Tenshi's arms snaked around his back as she pressed her nose into his bare chest and frowned slightly against him. "When is that girl leaving?" she asked, rather rudely. Naruto quirked his lips and tossed his head back towards their closed bedroom door. They'd been secluded in the comfort of the room for a while and he knew that Sakura would start to feel self-conscience or unwanted if he left her in the living room by herself for too long. He gently grabbed Tenshi's shoulders and pushed her back, going around her to dig in a drawer for a white T-shirt. He slipped it over his blonde head and cracked his neck.

Her nose scrunched.

"Be nice," he warned.

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms under her breasts.

His jaw clenched and unclenched, eyes strained on her like blue bullets as he called out that girl's name and walked out of the room. Tenshi hurried to the door and shut it, locking it before either one of them could look back. She wanted Akiku in her arms, but was too nervous to open the door up again and get him. And she was not a nervous person. _Not_ in the slightest.

But Naruto was unlike any other human being that she'd ever come into physical contact with. He kept promises, he was gentle, loving, kind, but he also had a rough, violent streak in him that she'd seen displayed when he rescued her from Acid. He could smile and make her heart flutter.

He was just as seductive as she was.

Tenshi discovered that she feared he would soon lose interest in her and dump her back to Red Heart's hell hole. It was all logical. Naruto was extremely attractive, and he must've known it. Tenshi used her beauty to get what she wanted in life and who was to say that he hadn't figured out he could do the same thing? He could have that _girl_ if he wanted her and Tenshi felt she would have no say, no room to object. How did she know that that hadn't been his very plan from the beginning? How did she know he loved her like he said? How did she—?

_Stop. Stop, stop, stop. _She furiously shook her head and sank to the floor, putting her arm under the bed to grab the picture of the redhead boy. Tossing her hair, she accepted whatever Naruto felt like he had to do and forgave him for _not_ forgiving her as she matched the name Sari had given her to the pale, haunting face in the photo. Gaara, she'd said. Tenshi squinted her eyes. He was different but somehow all the same. She touched his face with her finger and ran it down where the picture stopped at his waist. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to find him. Hopefully he wasn't still wouldn't be running amuck with Orochimaru. She crossed her legs and put the picture in the space between them, hands braced on her knees as she stared down at it. There was something strange in his aqua eyes; some kind of fear, hesitation. Tenshi frowned, leaning down closer when she heard laughing in the living room. Feeling her blood boil, she pushed the photo back under the bed and raised herself up off her bottom without using her hands.

_Sakura,_ she thought bitterly, tossing off Naruto's shirt and searching the drawers for something that he'd bought her. Eventually, she found a white tank top and a pair of denim shorts that she hurriedly slipped on. After fixing her hair, she opened up the bedroom door and walked, held high, into the living room where they were sitting on one of the couches and talking casually. It was nothing too suspicious; Naruto was hunched over, elbows on his knees while his arms hung between his legs, fingers interlaced, while she had her legs crossed, one hand in her hair and twirling a strand of pink in her fingers.

Tenshi put her hands together and lightly clapped, gaining their attention.

Naruto smiled. "Hey."

Sakura stared at him a moment before her emerald eyes slowly followed his gaze. She bit her tongue and grinned with it.

Tenshi tried to not to look annoyed. _Bitch._

Ever since she'd been little, she'd been possessive. She hadn't wanted Hyūga Hiashi to have Okaa-san, she hadn't wanted Orochimaru to take Sasuke back, she struggled to keep what he'd stolen away, and now she refused—_refused_—to let this girl eat her way back into his heart.

Tenshi didn't smile back at either of them. Instead, she walked her way to the couch and sat on the other side of Naruto, her back against the arm of it and propped both her legs up to lay them across his lap. He put his hands against his her skin and rubbed her calves. Sakura smiled again, completely innocent, and put her cheek in her hand, looking at Tenshi. "So," she started, "what do you do?" Tenshi's brow rose. "What?" Sakura sat up and moved her hands in rolling motion. "Do you have a job or anything?"

Tenshi tipped her head back and laughed.

Naruto blushed unnoticeably and squeezed her legs. "She doesn't do anything," he said.

Sakura nodded. "Oh?"

He shook his head.

Sakura asked Tenshi, "May I ask how old you are?"

"No."

"She's nineteen," Naruto said. He discreetly inched his hand into the side of her shorts and pinched her thigh. She only smiled closed-mouthed in response. Being nineteen might as well have been being seventy-five for her. She'd seen everything, done everything. There was nothing to look forward to in life. Naruto turned her way ran the tips of his fingers up her leg.

_Maybe_ nothing.

"You're pretty young," Sakura said.

Tenshi folded her arms under her stomach. "How old are _you_?"

"Twenty-two."

She shrugged. "You're not much older than me."

"No college for you?"

Tenshi titled her head. "Nope. You?"

Sakura leaned back. "I went and had two years of nursing school tied in with it."

"…How fun."

Naruto looked awkward and uncomfortable sitting between his ex-girlfriend and his…Tenshi. He inhaled deeply, and then practically jumped out of his skin when his cell phone rang loudly from its resting place on the mantle. He gently removed Tenshi's leg from his lap and excused himself to get, grabbing its vibrating form and strolling back into the bedroom. Both girls watched him leave, Sakura with her tongue in her teeth, eyebrows forced tightly together. Once she turned back around she saw Tenshi staring at her rather intensely, almost glaring. She licked her pink mouth and tossed her head, throwing back inky locks of silken hair. "So," she muttered slowly. "You dated Naruto." Sakura cringed. She hadn't even said it remotely like a kind question. It was more of a rude accusation. But she straightened her back and smiled nonetheless. "Yes."

"How long?"

She glanced up. "A little over three years."

"I beg your pardon?"

Sakura tried hard not to smirk. She could tell easily that Tenshi did not like her, and though she was considerably a nice, well-behaved human being, she did not take kindly to people that were instantly mean and uncivil to her. So she decided she would play her little game. The girl was nineteen, a child if anything. Sakura could only wonder how in the world she snagged Naruto. She was pretty, of course, beautiful, but she _knew_ Naruto. He wasn't only into looks. Sakura felt her eyes lid as Tenshi's narrowed. "I take it you two are dating now?" Tenshi glared at her. "No, we just live together." _Ha_. Dating. Sakura frowned. "But, you—"

"You hair's pink."

"What?"

"You hair. It's pink."

"I dye it."

"…That's stupid."

Sakura's jaw dropped. She _really_ didn't like her now.

* * *

Naruto pressed the phone closer to his ear, digging his back further into the door until the knob grounded into his skin. He pinched the narrow bridge of his nose as Kiba's voice droned on and on.

"_Why didn't you tell me sooner, ya asshole? Why haven't you kicked her out yet?"_

He sighed, looking down at his bare feet. "I can't do that."

"_You sure as fuck can! She slept with Sasuke! Aren't you even a little angry?"_

"Of course I am! I'm fucking furious, but I can't just kick her out. She'd have nowhere to go. And, plus, I do care about her, you know."

Kiba groaned. _"She's bringing you down, man."_

"Shut up. Oh, and Sakura just got here."

"_I'm sorry, who? Haruno Sakura? The hot as hell Sakura?"_

Naruto was starting to get a headache. "Yes, you idiot. _That_ one." He could already see the images Kiba was conjuring up in his head. He would want him to take the "high road" and "get what was his" and "bang the shit outta Sakura" and whatnot. But Naruto couldn't bring himself to do anything of the sort. At least, he didn't think he could. God knows he loved Sakura, loved her to pieces, but she'd left him, broken his heart. Perhaps he _did_ move onto another girl a little too fast, especially someone like Tenshi, but he loved her, right? He'd said it and when he said something he meant it. He knew he held something for Tenshi, but seeing Sakura again had knocked his perspective of her off orbit and he was spinning like a Frisbee out in space. He bit at his mouth, listening to what Kiba had to say. He was confused. Tenshi had had sex with Sasuke, his best friend, and he wasn't sure it would be so easy to forgive either of them. Maybe she did need a taste of her own medicine. Maybe Sakura had come back for a reason. Would he not be a fool if he didn't jump for the chance to have his hands on her again? After all, he still—sort of—loved her. He'd always love her.

"…_back in Tokyo."_

Naruto blinked. "What about Tokyo?"

"_Sasuke. Shikamaru said he's back in Tokyo. He took some redhead with him."_

"Redhead?"

"_That's what Nara said. You know he's one to gossip, the lazy girl."_

Shikamaru worked for Sasuke at his company and when he wasn't sleeping, he was prying into his boss's life. It was a hobby. Kiba said,_ "He just left for the city like, an hour ago. I think he should be there now. Will you go see him?"_

"Hell no, not right now."

"_Yeah, you're right. Way too early. But you gotta say somethin' soon."_

"I know. Could you not remind me?"

"_Whatever. I'll talk to you later. Hana's getting all antsy."_

"When are you going back home?"

"_When she frees me from her dungeon of little brothers. What about you?"_

Naruto looked at his bed by the window with the clear view of the ocean. He adored his summer home, but like Sasuke he ran a small part of his father's empire. Jiraiya organized the rest and sent more than half of the payments to him. The work he mostly did was over the computer, just checking over paperwork that other clients turned it, but he really didn't have to do anything. It was just nice to know that a part of his father was in him, and he knew that one day Jiraiya would visit him again, when he was older, and give him the crown to the throne. His father had dedicated his life to helping others back onto their feet. If he hadn't needed the money, he wouldn't have charged for it. Naruto admired him. He did miss home as well, centered in a silent part of the big city, not too far from Sasuke and Sakura's places. He had just been spending a large portion of his time at his summer house. The water was beautiful; he could clear his head.

"I'll probably leave next month or so. Tenshi would probably like to see the house."

"_What are you gonna do, man?"_

"Just let me figure it out. I'll call you later."

"_Fine. I'll call Shikamaru and see what's up with Sasuke."_

"Alright." They said goodbye and he shoved his phone into his back pocket, his heart hammering in his chest. Going back home would mean having to face all of his problems. He'd be much closer to Sakura and Sasuke, and he'd be dragging Tenshi into a completely different environment. Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji would all be going back home soon as well, and they would definitely want to meet her. He wasn't sure he was ready for that. Anxious and nervous, he began cleaning around in the room, swiping off invisible dust from the dressers and tables before he leaned down to fix the skirt of the bed. Whenever he got distressed, he cleaned. It was habit he'd picked up from his mother, and it also kept the house neat. He smiled as he thought of her and tugged the skirt a little lower when a flash of red caught his eye. His brow furrowed as he pulled the picture out from its spot and scoffed at the man in it. In fury, he ripped it to shreds and sprinkled the pieces to the floor.

Tenshi was still lying to him.

He took a deep breath and walked out the room, not looking back at the torn photo of the man and saw Tenshi and Sakura on the couch. Sakura looked insulted, holding onto handfuls of her hair and Tenshi was slightly smirking. He wanted to wipe the look of her mouth, tell her to either swallow or bury it, that he never wanted to see it again.

He decided at that moment it was time for him to move back home. Now.

"Sakura," he said cheerily. She looked up and grinned. "I'm moving back home. We'll be closer now."

Her eyes glinted, flashed with lust. "Honestly?"

He nodded. "Won't that be fun, baby?" he asked Tenshi.

She looked from him to the pink-haired girl and didn't say anything. She just stood up from the couch and roughly grabbed his T-shirt, dragging them once again to the threshold of the bedroom. However, upon arrival, she didn't step in. She just stared with wide, empty eyes at Gaara's shredded face, her fingers loosening from the fabric of Naruto's shirt and falling by her side. A strangled, throaty whine came from her lips. "Why would you do that?" she whispered.

"Who is that?" he seethed. Tenshi tried to turn around, but he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her to the wall. "Tell me."

"What did I tell you? I'll let you know when you're ready."

"I _am_ ready."

She laughed. "You don't know what you're in for."

Naruto grated, "If we're going to be in a relationship then you have to start telling me what's up with you."

She growled, nails digging into his skin through his shirt as she yelled, "I didn't ask to be in a _fucking_ relationship with you! I told you—_told you_—to leave me alone, but you kept coming back! Why are you mad at _me_? _You_ put this on yourself!" Her voice cracked, and the slits seemed to rake through her entire form, crippling her. How dare he? She struggled against his grip, face red, knees weak. "Let go of me!" she screeched. Naruto held her still. "If I hadn't been there, you'd either be dead or still fucking random men for money!" She froze. "I hate you," she spat, lying to him again.

He pointed to what was left of the photo. "Who is that?"

"None of your business."

"Are you having sex with him? Tell me the truth."

She wriggled against the wall, her forehead soaked with perspiration. "No, okay? It wasn't like that with him." _Please, stop._

"_Wasn't_, huh? Then what about Sasuke?"

"Sasuke?" Sakura was suddenly standing in the hall, staring at them, her fingers brought to her lips. "She knows Sasuke?" Tenshi smirked. "Do _I_ know Sasuke? _Honey_." They would never understand, they couldn't grasp what had happened with her and Sasuke even if they tried. Tenshi's body was on fire. She couldn't breathe, she was sweating, and her heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings. She'd never been forced to spill all of her secrets, the reason why she did the things she did. She looked up at Naruto, desperate for him to let it go, and whispered, "Can we do this later?" He glanced at Sakura who now had her lips compressed together. "No," he said, "this happens now." Tenshi's black soul got even darker. She shoved him away with all her might. "Just take me back to Red Heart. I'd be happier."

"You're lying, I know you are."

"No, I'm not. I don't want you anymore." The burning of fresh tears was pounding behind her eyes.

"That's too bad 'cause I still want you. But I want the goddamn truth first."

She sighed. Sakura stepped closer. "What happened with Sasuke?"

Tenshi closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them back up, an angry emotion stamped in the pupils. "Okay, we all want the truth, right? Why, oh, why did Tenshi fuck Sasuke?" Naruto's jaw clenched. He couldn't help it when he and Sakura's gazes met. _Not again_. Would he always lose to the Uchiha?

He touched Tenshi's waist. "Now."

Unknowingly, a few tears fell down her perfect face. She could remember the sound of her own screaming, Orochimaru holding her down while a strange woman prodded between her legs, blood covering her face and hands. She could remember Sasuke's indifference, his cold eyes, the way he just turned around while she cried out in pure and utter agony, the feeling of her very being torn apart branded like the symbol of a hot iron into the side of her skull. Her hands shook as she raked her hands through her hair.

"Sasuke got me pregnant."

At that particular instant, the four of them were immediately twined together with golden string, their histories all apart of each other's; Sakura's infidelity, Sasuke greediness, Naruto's love, and Tenshi's brokenness. She didn't want to look at anyone's face. She just tipped her head and asked for the end to come swiftly and painlessly for the hundredth time in her life.

And just like every other time, it didn't.


	12. 11: We Walk a Fragile Line

**Note: **Listen to the song **Haunted **by **Taylor Swift** as you read this chapter. It's absolutely perfect for this. It's like, I could copy and paste the lyrics onto the chapter and it would _perfect_. Even you don't like T-Swift, just listen to it, please. For me, yeah?

* * *

_You and I walk a fragile line,  
__I have known it all this time._

**.11.  
****whenever you're gone**

Naruto turned his head. He couldn't look at her, for his eyes burned at the thought of what she had just said. Sakura was crying, heavy, crystal tears falling like rain down her cheeks, hands slapped over her mouth. There was a tense silence in the air, suffocating as it wrapped around each of their necks and squeezed with spidery fingers. Sakura heaved, choking out, "Then where's t-the baby?" Tenshi wiped her idiotic tears away, not wanting to look like the other girl. "It got aborted. I killed it." Sakura began sobbing more, the thought of a piece of Sasuke dying before it got to live breaking her heart in two.

Tenshi's hand unconsciously moved to her stomach, her eyes straining to Naruto's face where she saw his blue eyes glaze with moistness. Her head cocked to the side. Was he crying? For _her_? She was absolutely _nothing_ to cry over. Or maybe he wasn't sad for her; he was sad for the child that Orochimaru had murdered. That was fine. She'd cried for months after it happened, and even more when Sasuke decided that he would no longer be able to stick around and vanished without a trace. The memory was still there, still so fresh that if she put her hands against her privates they'd come back out soaked crimson with her dead baby's blood. Naruto blinked repeatedly, murmuring curses under his breath, one hand braced against the wall next to Tenshi's head and the other squeezing the golden tendrils of his head at the scalp. He was angry, livid, crestfallen; what was he to say to her now? That everything would be alright? That he would make all of that go away?

He just didn't know what to do anymore.

"Naruto," Sakura groaned from in the hall. He turned to look at her, taking in her red, puffy eyes and trembling hands. "Maybe you should hold off on the moving for awhile." Hearing Tenshi say that she'd gotten pregnant with Uchiha Sasuke's baby and then aborted it had made her queasy, sick to her stomach with confusion. No way could Naruto just pack up and leave after hearing something like that. It would have to sink in.

But he didn't agree with her. "No," he said. "I think a new place would do Tenshi good." Perhaps the water, though beautiful, was getting to their heads. "We'll leave in about two weeks," he clarified and glanced at the seemingly nonchalant girl against the wall. There was residue of tears on her face, but she showed no kind of emotion. _Does she feel anything? _Naruto wondered and then suddenly wished he hadn't. Sakura sniffled, racing into the living room to grab her purse and placed her hand on the door knob. She had to get out of there. "I'll call you," she told Naruto and smiled weakly. He returned it, just as pitiful, and watched her walk out of the house, heard a car start, and then saw her drive away through the window.

Tenshi stared at his wandering eyes and pushed passed him, walking over to Gaara's picture and picking up each and every piece until it was a small mountain in her hand. She would tape it back together if she had to; she could not allow herself to forget that face. She pulled the hem of her shirt from her stomach and dropped the pieces into the stretched fabric, folding it back up to make a pouch as she brushed shoulders with Naruto, heading into the kitchen.

They didn't speak once.

He rubbed his nose and closed the bedroom door after she'd walked out and got into the shower.

* * *

By around eight that night, no words had been spoken between them. Tenshi rolled her eyes. Naruto had decided to be a little bitch and enclose himself in the bedroom. She could hear the television blaring out some action film from behind the closed door. She sat on the living room couch, legs caught under her body as she flipped through channel after channel. She had never been one too much into television, except for when she was younger, so she just ended up watching the news. An older Japanese man from Okinawa was speaking, pictures of young girls screening behind him. Tenshi turned the volume up. He was talking about three young girls that had been kidnapped and missing for almost month. Tenshi gulped, feeling her body tip closer. A picture of one of the girls showed; a little child with blonde hair and green eyes. Tenshi's mouth parted slightly, and then she quickly turned the station when she heard Naruto walk into the kitchen. She wasn't sure why he made her nervous enough to change what she was watching, but he did.

He strolled in, his eyes half-closed, and disappeared behind the corridor into the kitchen. Tenshi could hear the opening of a soda can, the popping of sugar and caffeine like a bomb in her ears. She felt her heart race when he came back into the living room and sat on the opposite end of her. Her teeth gritted together.

Naruto took a sip of his drink. "What were you watching?"

"Huh?"

"You turned it when I walked in." He hadn't looked at her yet.

Tenshi felt her hand clench around the remote. She was becoming more and more pissed off. Why hadn't he even so much as _glanced_ at her? Why hadn't he brought up her lost child or Sakura? Why was he acting like he didn't _care_? She turned back to the television screen and put a hand through her hair. Because she didn't want to answer his question, she did the second-best thing she knew how to do: she changed the subject. "Where's your real house?"

Naruto frowned, but his eyes still didn't wander. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Tokyo."

_No._

Tenshi's head swiveled around to stare at him incredulously, her eyes wide and mouth suddenly bone-dry. On instinct, her hands reached out and grabbed onto his white shirt, pulling him a bit closer. Her breath was trapped in her throat, lips struggling to make words. He finally looked at her—really looked—and saw her desperation, the fear etched into her eyes. Once focused on her face, his gaze just cast down again. Tenshi felt her blood run cold, rejection weighing heavy on her shoulders. Instead of saying what she had to say, she uneasily let him go and put her arms around herself. He chewed at his bottom lip, put his drink on the coffee table, and stood up, preparing to go back into the bedroom to sort out his jumbled thoughts when Tenshi's voice rang like weak bells as she said his name.

He stopped, but didn't turn.

She sighed, the will slipping away. "You don't love me anymore, do you?"

Did he? Was it all a mistake? He was confused, angry.

Tenshi put her knees in the couch and watched him from over the top of it. _Don't you fake it. _If he wanted to be rid of her, all he had to do was say it. She was tired of pretending to be something she wasn't. When it all came to down to the nitty-gritty, she was that dirty, beautiful prostitute from Red Heart, the one with the flowing black hair and piercing gray eyes. She wasn't fit to be someone's house-bred girlfriend, the love of an individual's life. She was sin and misery, broken and insatiable, greedy, starving for happiness.

Sasuke said it was too late for any of that.

Tenshi waited for Naruto's response.

Sasuke had been right.

She pressed on, "Did you hear what I said?" Naruto walked back over to the couch and stood behind it, in front of her. "Everything will be okay once we get to Tokyo."

"Why? Because Sakura's there?" _Because you want her?_

He frowned, eyes getting cold. "That's not what I meant."

"But it's what you're thinking."

"I can't even talk to you!" he yelled. "You don't know what the hell _I_ think about!" Even though his eyes were on her now, he wasn't seeing her again; he was looking straight through her. Tenshi nodded her head. "Oh, yes, I do." And she could. Her eyes had always been open. But she could admit that sometimes people had snuck passed her defenses and covered them up. Like the Uchiha, who still had his hands around her face, blocking her from seeing. Naruto reached out and grabbed the front of her shirt, tugging her so close their noses brushed. The muscles in his jaw were crushed together, slightly protruding, veins bursting to the surface of the skin of his arms and hands, the fabric of her tank top tight in his fist. At first she was braced, head held up high, lips pressed together, but when his other hand came up, she squeezed her eyes shut and cringed, but that hand just landed on her shoulder. She opened one eye to see Naruto looking ashamed.

"I'd never…hurt you," he said.

Quickly, he brought his hands back like they were on fire, but Tenshi wouldn't allow it. He always wanted her to talk about what was wrong, for her to give him the truth, but he was just as hesitant as she was. "Why won't you touch me?" she asked, drawing his arms around her neck. He had them raised slightly.

"You think I'm disgusting now, don't you?"

"You aborted your baby."

Her mouth parted. If only he knew. She had _wanted_ her baby. Orochimaru had had other plans.

But she didn't go on to explain. She just wanted Naruto to try and understand for once without asking any questions. No. She was going to ask him one. "What happened between you and Sakura?" He shook his head and brought his arms off her, looking away with a frown on his face. Tenshi cocked her head to the side in confusion, the wheels in her head spinning to come up with a reason as to why, after three years, they would split. Even though she didn't want to admit it, Sakura was perfect. She was beautiful, she went to college, and she had a career. She wasn't soiled with the filth of too many hands. Tenshi had been raising herself the day Hyūga Hiashi came back into Okaa-san's life and after that, it had all been hell. Orochimaru had Shizune keep her educated, keep her quick and smart. _"What's a girl without a brain?"_ he would ask in a whispery voice, stringing his gray hands through her hair.

She could still feel his fingers running against the skin of her scalp as she stared at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"_I love you, my little angel. I'm the only one that loves you."_

Naruto kept his head down.

"_Where would you be without me? Out on that dirty beach in that shack, huh? I saved you."_

She felt her stomach clench, tighter and tighter until she felt like vomiting.

"_Tell me, Tenshi. Tell me you love me."_

Would he still be looking for her? She reached out to grab back onto Naruto's hands, hers small in his, and watched the veins twitch in them. She had loved her mother until the very end, she had loved her father for a moment, Kurenai and Kanji for awhile, she had loved Sasuke, she'd loved her child, but she had long ago stopped loving herself. Everyone she had cared for had either died or left her and herself—her weak self—was all she had left. Love made things thin and crinkly, like paper, fragile like crystal, relentless, like the water. She realized she wanted no part in that mess. What would loving anyone else do for her? What would loving Naruto accomplish? What was she to do when he got bored of her? What if she lost another piece of her already torn-up-and-spit-out heart?

_I'll die._

She would not be hurt again. Not this time.

Her hair fell over her shoulders as she tipped her head down and laid it on Naruto's broad shoulder. There was nothing she could offer him, nothing worthy enough at least. He was still in love with Sakura, she knew it.

Head going back up, eyes getting hard as frost-bitten flesh, she said, "Why did you break up with her?"

Naruto looked guilty. "I didn't."

"Then what happened?"

"She fell in love with Sasuke." _She's still in love with Sasuke._

_Boom. _She felt like shit. He looked at her again, finally, and smirked. Her brows rose. Naruto didn't…smirk. "You two are…_a lot_ alike."

"_Don't_ you compare me to that…that—"

"Bitch? And what are you, baby?" His jaw clenched, muscles jerking as he untangled their hands and cast a steely glare. Tenshi smiled slightly. "You're walking out on this."

He grabbed her jaw. _"Love her, Naruto…" _She scrunched her nose. He muttered, "I said I would save you, didn't I? I meant what I said. I don't ever go back on my word." Tenshi almost allowed herself to melt. But the voices wouldn't stop for either of them. _"Tenshi, I saved you."_

"And after you've saved me?" she asked awkwardly with her lips pushed out. He smiled, really smiled, and let go of her. "One day at a time." There was still that wall in between them; Sasuke and Sakura standing behind them with their arms wrapped like silk scarves around their throats. How were they to break the chains?

Tenshi could feel the tension, the endless questions of _why? _and _how? _For a moment, if only for a moment, she wanted them to go away. She wanted to pretend that half of her life hadn't been spent being brutally raped every single day, to look in the mirror and not see those black handprints like wrinkling scars all over her body. For a moment, she wanted to play like Naruto was her prince and they were married with her baby and Akiku, Okaa-san still alive to be called an obaa-san. And they all would live in Naruto's house, by the beach, clean and whole, and happy. She knew that Naruto had not forgiven her for having sex with his friend and that he was upset about her "aborting" her child, but when all was done, she would tell him everything she could remember. She wasn't sure how strong his love was still, if was even still there, but that didn't matter. She would take what she could get for a bit of comfort.

She was not yet able to say she had any romantic feelings for him besides absolute lust for his perfect body, but the thought of what could be lingered in the dark recesses of her mind, right behind the small cage she had locked her worst memories in.

For right now, she was just tired. She wanted to lie in bed and have Naruto put his arms around her so that she could fall asleep to the beat of his heart. It was getting later and later, and her muscles were sore from doing nothing.

"I'm sleepy," she told Naruto. He put his hands against her neck and kissed her forehead.

"C'mon." He grabbed her arm and hauled her over the back of the couch and turned off the television and the lights in the living room before they went to bed, little Akiku waking up from his nap in a corner and following them. Tenshi bent to pick him up and put him on the bed while she stripped off her clothes and put on the shirt that she'd been wearing earlier; Naruto's shirt. She took a ponytail holder off her slender wrist and tied her hair up high, watching Naruto as he shed his T-shirt and turned the television off, inching under the heavy, warm covers. She gently moved Akiku behind her after she got in and turned towards the whining kitten. Naruto turned as well, putting his strong arms around her.

She sighed.

He pressed his lips to her clothed shoulder, spooning into her. There was a comfortable but answered silence in the air.

_Now what?_

Naruto knew. "Tenshi," he said quietly.

"What is it?"

He eased one of his hands under the shirt she wore and spread it across her prickling skin, right on her womb. She anxiously began rubbing her feet together. "Why did you do it?" Why, why, why, why, why, why. She would never know _why_ Orochimaru did the things he did, but she made something up to feed Naruto's worry. "I was seventeen," she started, "and a prostitute. My pimp was crazy. He would've killed it if I hadn't first."

"What about Sasuke?"

"He…just—Sasuke didn't know about it." Her heart was hammering. Sasuke had watched. She tried to block it before the pain—emotional and physical—became real again. Both her hands went lower to cover his as she wiggled further back into him. "But that's over now," she added. "Sasuke doesn't need to hear about it."

"Wait. Does he still not know?"

Tenshi felt a shudder rip through her. "H-He—Naruto, please. C-Can we not talk about this?" She muttered a curse for stuttering through a sentence. She hadn't stammered like that since she was a child. She felt like an idiot for being so scared, but she couldn't help but to care what she knew he would think if he found out the things Orochimaru had done to her, every single invisible scar he'd branded onto her body. Naruto didn't say anything else; he pulled his hands from her stomach and turned her over so that they were facing each other. Tenshi's eyes fluttered closed as she felt his cool breath over her lips. "Tenshi," he said, but she quickly shook her head and put her arms around his waist, ducking her head and burying her face into chest. "Don't say anything, okay? Just…go to sleep." He put his hands through her hair and around her back.

"One more thing, baby."

"_Naruto_, I—"

"I do love you."

Tenshi looked up at him, her eyes hazy. "What?"

He smiled. "I know you heard me. You asked me before, remember? And I do love you." He leaned down and kissed her parted mouth. "I'd do anything for you. Something about you… I don't know. But I love you anyway." He brought her up slightly and put his face into the side of her neck. She giggled at the tickling sensation it gave her and put her hands on his head, fingers tangled in his messy golden locks. She cared for him, she did. But she couldn't recall what love really felt like.

"Thank you," is what she settled for.

* * *

Karin screamed, her shriek so utterly annoying that Sasuke slapped his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She moaned softly from under his grip, her red hair in disarray around her head. He rolled his eyes, pulling out of her and tossing himself on his back. She sat up quickly, wincing in the process and looking down between her legs before smiling. "That was great," she cooed, leaning over to kiss him. He turned his head so that she only caught his cheek. She frowned. "Sasuke, what's wrong? I thought you were happy to be back home."

"Hn."

"Come on, baby," she purred. She picked up one of his hands and put it over her breast. Sasuke pinched her and then tugged away. "Go home, Karin."

Karin pouted, but she nodded and slowly put her clothes back on, grabbed her hair brush and purse and left his penthouse.

He sank back into his king-sized bed, knowing she had found the spare key he'd hidden and locked the door behind her. Bringing her back to Tokyo with him had probably been a bad idea, but he was feeling really shitty at the time. Plus, he needed to get back to work. His paperwork wasn't going to do itself, and he'd been paying one of his lazy-ass employees—Nara was his name—to finish whatever he'd forgotten or just didn't feel like doing. Sasuke was stressed, angry, and tired. He'd had Karin on his heels for the past two days, just trying to wipe away the memory of Tenshi.

But whenever he had Karin under him, panting with sweat and calling his name, all he could see was that girl. He started comparing them; Tenshi was beautiful, stunning, while Karin simply had cute aspects. Tenshi's body was soft, thin but completely curvy. Her breasts were full, perfect, hips molded to fit into a man, legss long and lean. Karin just wasn't her. In the backseat of his car the night of the festival, he'd almost wished she would get pregnant, if only to bring back the thing they had made together and then had taken away. Sasuke was not a sympathetic or sorry person. He wasn't one to apologize in a hurry, but he knew when he was wrong.

Sometimes he dreamed about her. He would see her smiling brightly, telling him her real name for the first time. He would see her eyes closing, lips pressing against his. And then he would be standing in a white room, handcuffed to a pipe wedged into a wall, a gag in his mouth, watching an old woman bend between her legs with a rusty wire hanger and scrape their child out of her while that bastard stood by her head, the same colored rag he had stuffed into her mouth, muffling her screams while he could absolutely nothing.

But that last part had really happened.

He was nineteen and she was two years younger, but he had already inherited his father's company. His father had been tangled into Orochimaru's business before it got out of hand, and then the sick man had tracked him down after his parents' deaths and introduced him to Tenshi. She was beautiful and he was a red-blooded teenager. A week before they met, Sakura had come to his house crying, saying she had broken up with Naruto because she was in love with him. At first, he was mortified—secretly, of course—and he brought Sakura in and spoke with her. She kissed him after her tears were shed, but he couldn't let anymore than that happen. He couldn't do anything to hurt Naruto.

But Tenshi was a different story. Something about the girl made him want her like mad and he couldn't stop the urge from taking place.

After having sex with her in his car, he didn't see the cold, hurt girl that she had become. He saw the red-faced, wide-eyed girl who'd whispered that she loved him after four months of knowing him.

He saw Hinata.

He had thought about maybe giving Naruto a call, if only to see if he would answer, but he knew better than that. He wasn't sure if the man would even forgive him for what he had done. Sakura had come bawling to him two years ago and now, just when Naruto found someone else, he'd gotten to her too. But he knew Tenshi didn't love him, not like she used to, and that hurt his pride.

Sometimes he wanted her love. He wanted to know that it was possible for him to hurt her, crush her, have her heart beating in the palm of his hand like Sakura's had been. It was pure power.

It was pure hell.

Sasuke groaned, getting up from his bed and slipping on a pair of black boxers. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed in irritation when he saw Karin's thong lying on the floor.

The girl just didn't wear underwear.

He picked it up with two fingers and tossed it into the trash. After tidying up a bit, he walked through his lavish, large, and comfortable home, picking up any lost articles of paperwork he'd neglected. When he had everything piled onto a desk in his study, he took one look of it and muttered, "Fuck it," deciding he would give the Nara a call in the morning.

* * *

Sakura finished brushing her hair out and popped her knuckles, her feet sore from walking around all day and half the night. She grabbed her phone from the table beside her bed and dismissed the missed calls from her mother. Strands of cotton candy pink fell over her shoulders and into her lidded eyes. She roughly pushed her bangs back and slid her headband on.

She was sitting in the bed, rocking back and forth, staring at the dark blue sheets rumpled together at her waist. Her eyes stung.

How could Sasuke have gotten a girl pregnant? It didn't make sense! He was careful—always careful—and Tenshi just seemed…_dangerous_. Lethal, like poison and arsenic. Did Naruto's skin not burn when they touched? A knot formed in the pit of her stomach and she bent over in pain, holding her abdomen.

She would've been perfect to carry any child of Sasuke's. She had loved Naruto, really she had, but she just loved Sasuke so much more. There was something between them, something electric. She knew he felt it too, she _knew_ it. Naruto was more a friend type. He was there whenever she needed him, kind and stood up for her, but there was something in Sasuke that drew her like a moth to a flame, igniting her soul and setting her heart ablaze into a wad of pink fire, as pink as her hair. She could always feel the shock whenever their fingers brushed or when he said her name. It was in his eyes when he looked at her, in his smirk, in his short-lived chuckles. She'd needed him.

But he didn't take her.

She knew she couldn't have gone back to Naruto after confessing her love to Sasuke, so she broke it off between them. When he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her face, asking, begging why, she didn't have an answer to give. She felt horrible months after, even worse when she discovered that Naruto knew the reason they had never lasted in the first place.

Sasuke had told him.

She swallowed, Tenshi's perfect, pale face flashing across her eyes before she dug the heels of her hands into them to stop the visual. Why would a beautiful witch like her have aborted something so precious as a child of Uchiha Sasuke's?

Sakura cleared her throat, eyes filling with tears.

A hand went around her thigh. "What's the matter?" a sleepy male voice asked.

She looked down and grinned—beautiful and fake—and kissed his forehead."Nothing."

Sai frowned. "Something's up with you…"

Sakura shook her head and brought her legs up from under the covers, stretching them out onto the cool sheets. She leaned back into the white pillows behind her head and bit her full bottom lip, watching Sai as he pulled a strap of her tank top off her pinkish skin. Sakura giggled and pushed his hand away. "I'm on call tonight."

He sat up and placed a hard kiss on her mouth. "So?"

"So? Don't you have to paint a portrait tomorrow?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Some rich cat's daughter."

She smiled. "Fun."

He kissed her again, hands inching down until they brought up the hem of her shirt. Sakura closed her eyes in annoyance. He wasn't even her boyfriend. She would let Sasuke, Tenshi, and Naruto go for tonight, to make Sai happy, but she knew she needed to get Tenshi out of the way. She would be trouble and Sakura had both Naruto _and_ Sasuke first. They were hers. She let Sai angle himself between her legs, her eyes following the shadows of his movements until she saw her sore, reddened feet.

She frowned, realizing she needed a pedicure.

* * *

Sabaku Gaara could not sleep.

He laid awake in a large, lonely home in the middle of Tokyo with nothing to do besides stare at the wall. It was almost one o' clock in the morning, yet sleep would not come. He felt his eye twitch.

Taking a hand through his blood-red hair, he decided he would have his twenty-sixth cup of tea when a frightened, hurried knock was heard at his door.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he got out of bed and placed his ear against the hard wood.

"Who is it?" he asked slowly.

He could hear crying.

Curious, he opened the door a bit to see a young girl with long dark hair and eyes the color of syrup staring up at him. In her hands were a bundle of pictures and her face was streaked with tears. Gaara's frozen heart thudded like the weak beating of baby bird's wings.

"Sari?" he rasped, astounded. He pulled her into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. "Where the hell have you been?" His voice was thick with anger. "I haven't seen you in a year."

Sari cried louder, clutching him with all her might. "A girl," she gasped, "is looking for you."


	13. 12: Break Even

**Breakeven **by **The Script**

* * *

_What am I supposed to say  
__When I'm all choked up and you're okay?_

**.12.  
****break even**

Rakuen was a small town about an hour or two away from Tokyo. The population was small, and it was comfortably quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the big cities. On the opposite side of it sat Okinawa, and the people from there and Tokyo loved to visit the vast beaches of Rakuen. If one wanted a vacation close to home, it was the number one hotspot, perfect for families. The only thing sketchy about it was its small collection of brothels and strip joints, located in a deeper, seedier part of the town.

Kiba, like Naruto, only had a summer home in the quaint place, but his house was under major remodeling, leaving him to stay with his older sister. After a week, he had been ready to return home, but Hana would simply not have it. Now he was stuck in Rakuen, cracking under the pressure of his sister and Naruto's drama, his phone blowing up with Shikamaru's "work issues" and reminding Choji to take his new medication for his stomach pains. He loved his friends dearly, but he was ready to jump in his car and head on back to Tokyo. He loved the city and all it had to offer. He was in medic-training to be a veterinarian and missed his dog, Akamaru, who was living with Shikamaru because Hana's husband had terrible allergies.

He sighed as he searched through his phone for Shikamaru's number and pressed the screen where his name was, calling him. He waited a few rings before the other man answered the phone. He could tell he was half-sleep from the grogginess in his voice. _"What is it?" _

"You need to get up."

Shikamaru groaned. _"Do you know what time it is?" _

Kiba glanced at his wrist watch. "It's eleven in the morning, man."

"_Fuck you, man. What d'ya want?" _

"Anything else on Sasuke?"

Shikamaru seemed to perk up a bit. _"Not really. He e-mailed me some of his goddamn paperwork that he was too depressed to do. Damn it." _

Kiba frowned. "Naruto call you?"

"_No, why?" _

"He said he's going back to Tokyo soon." Kiba stood from the porch step he was relaxing on and went into the house for something alcoholic to drink.

"_I don't blame him. I love it here, but I'm leaving too." _

"You too? Shit, I'm gonna be the only one here!"

"_False. Choji." _

He rolled his eyes. "He's still sick from that meat stick accident. He's at his mother's still."

"_Your place'll be done soon. Don't stress so much. What do you want me to do with Akamaru?" _

"I'll see if Choji can take him. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Tenshi fucked Sasuke and Sakura's back in town."

"…_What? You're shitting me!" _

"No, he told me yesterday morning."

"_Did I not say he was fucked?"_

"Nope, you said it."

* * *

Tenshi stared in the mirror at her pallid reflection as she vigorously wiped her hands with a small towel. Her hair was losing its glimmer and shine, her eyes were swollen red and empty, her mouth was verging on grey and her skin was dry. She sighed and used the wet towel to wipe her oily face before she stripped her clothes and climbed into the shower. It had been a week and five days since Naruto had declared that they were going to Tokyo.

Tenshi was frightened out of her mind.

When she was around eleven, Orochimaru started taking her to one of his extravagant homes in that God-forsaken city where it would just be them, no other girls or men, and he would give her baths, dress her, braid her hair, and then rape her.

Over and over and over again.

That house, secluded behind tress, had been her worst nightmare. He'd done terrible, unspeakable, cruel things to her mind and body and no one would be made uncomfortable by her screams and cries for help. It was times like that when she realized she was all alone. There was never anyone to pull Orochimaru off her tiny, ruptured body and beat him to a bloody pulp. She knew that if she went back to Tokyo, it would be much easier for him to find her. They'd spent the majority of their time in Rakuen, but it was the sordid parts. She knew he would never think to search for her in the neighborly parts of the town, where Red Heart was, but in Tokyo he would find her. He would find her and he would kill her all over again.

Tenshi showered for a long while, and when she finally stepped out and wrapped a fluffy black towel around her body, she heard Naruto talking on the phone. Her brow furrowed. It was decided: she didn't like him having friends. He was talking about Tokyo once more and she could hear shuffling behind the closed bathroom door. With dripping hair, she walked forward and placed her hand on the knob, slightly turning it and stepping into the bedroom. He was putting her clothes in a suitcase with the phone between his ear and shoulder, neatly folding each article of clothing after the other.

She gently closed the bathroom door behind her the same time he mumbled, "Bye, Sakura."

Her hand tightened around the flap of the towel as she slowly made her way to him and slightly cleared her throat. Naruto looked down at her and put a hand on her damp head. "Hey."

"Hi. What were you talking about on the phone?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Just telling her we'd be down there soon." Her heart thudded. How was she to tell him that she was afraid to return to Tokyo? How was she to explain what exactly was waiting for her there?

Tenshi's eyes fluttered half-closed as he moved his hands from her hair and down to her naked back, rubbing the wet skin in between her shoulder blades. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I'll let you get dressed."

She lowered her eyes. "Okay."

He smiled and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before he leaned over and zipped the suitcase full of her clothes, taking it in his hand and exiting the bedroom. Once he was gone, Tenshi dried herself and put on the cotton black shorts and red shirt he'd lay out on the bed. After she was fully dressed, she brushed her teeth and combed her hair. She needed a blow dryer…and a flat iron. She supposed she could brush it out later. As she once again stared in the mirror at how wan she had become, she wiped her hazy eyes and strode, tall and powerful, into the living room where Naruto was slipping shoes on. Her hands shook as she put her arms around herself and put her flip flops on, but then loosened up and went in search of Akiku until she found him in the hall bathroom, sleeping on the carpet.

Naruto heaved up her suitcase and turned off all the lights in the house, grabbing his keys and nodding his head towards the back door. She smirked a little, still on the edge, and followed him out the door, taking one last, longing look at the house she had grown to love.

As they walked to the car, Tenshi tried to imprint the smell of the ocean in her mind before they climbed in and he started the engine.

"You'll like the house," he mentioned quietly once they were on the road with a smile.

She frowned. "Not as much as the summer one."

He reached over and rubbed her cool thigh. "Baby," was all he said, almost in a pleading tone, pinching her leg. She placed her head against the window and smiled slightly. She sort of liked it when he called her that. No man had ever said it that way before. It made the black butterflies in her stomach twitch. Her eyes shifted shut, the feel of his warm hand against her skin sending her into a light sleep. The ride was quiet, comfortable, and, for a moment, she was almost happy. Happy before they reached the city that had been her hell, happy while Naruto still loved her, happy with Sasuke and/or Sakura not around.

She bit her lower lip, and more than hour passed before Naruto pulled into the driveway of a two-story house, traditional Japanese style. It was beautiful.

"_This_ is your house?"

He smiled. "I seem to remember you saying that before."

"You never cease to amaze me."

"Maybe you'll want to keep me around."

_Forever, if you'll let me. _But she shrugged. "Maybe."

They both stepped out of the car, Naruto grabbing the suitcase and Tenshi's sweaty hand as the bounded up the stone walkway and steps, surrounded by plants and all kinds of flowers to the front door. "You ready?" he asked. She didn't look at him as she nodded. He pulled out his keys and slowly unlocked the door, leading her in. She was nervous, anxious, but she let his warm touch lead her into the living room. The designs of the houses were similar, but the walls were dark like rich milk chocolate, the wooding like coffee. The sofas, loveseats, and chairs were a crème white, however, and she saw a shōji door on the side of one wall, strong wood with a lock in the middle of it.

Naruto bit his lip as he watched her. She looked content, if not a little annoyed. Her body was rigid, fingers pressed tightly into his hand. His felt his jaw clench as he laced their fingers together and brought the back of her hand up to his mouth.

She didn't even glance at him, her kitten in her arms.

Sometimes she made him want to scream, yank his hair, destroy one of his belongings. He hated it when he couldn't draw a response out of her. Usually, on her bad days, it was like she wasn't even there.

But he knew the special side of her.

He had seen the girl that smiled and stuttered, the one that held him, the one that got jealous. That's why he couldn't toss her now, even after Sasuke. He was pissed—_infuriated_—but she needed him more than Sasuke needed to feel a fist in his throat.

He could love her better than anyone had ever tried to. He knew he could.

Smiling slightly, he shook their intertwined hands. "Wanna look around?"

"Can I?" Her voice had cracked.

"_Duh_. This is your house now, too."

She finally looked at him, mouth quivering. "Hey," he said gently, "what's—?"

"I'll go look." She roughly jerked out of his firm grip, put Akiku down next to his feet, and shot for the staircase, running until she reached the top. Her heart was racing. "Damn it," she muttered. She had almost started bawling again in front of that idiot. _"This is your house now, too." _She slapped her forehead. Things would get better and then, once again, her world would fucking fall apart. Shaking her shoulders, she analyzed where she was. At the top of the stair were two hallways on either side. Shrugging, she headed for the left, seeing there were three shōji doors. She opened all of them to see two large bedrooms, decorated beautifully, and a pretty marble bathroom. The right hall held four rooms; two very exquisite bedrooms, a den with a platinum screen television and video games, and then the master room.

She slid the door closed behind her as she crept in and touched the dark oak of the bed. The walls were white-washed with a silver border and then bed was humongous. The sheets were royal satin blue and when she ran her hand across it, she realized it was not satin, but silk. There was a great bookshelf, another platinum TV, two small couches, dressers and a beautiful walk-in closet. Tenshi tip-toed in and put one of Naruto's dress shirts under her nose and felt her eyes water.

Would Orochimaru really find her or had the gods finally stopped picking at her and given her a new life?

She couldn't tell.

After rummaging through his things and finding a nice-looking, silver matte laptop, she found the bathroom connected to the master and almost fainted at the shower. It was bigger and way keener than the summer house's. She instantly fell in love with it.

Excited for this new place, she took off her clothes and tossed them in a hamper in the corner before she got in that shower and felt the hot water melt her worries away. She washed her hair with Naruto's shampoo and was happy to see he had those big, fluffy black towels here too. After finding one of his T-shirts and forgetting about any underwear, she hopped into the bed. When she slid under the covers, it was cool on her warm skin. Her hair was even wetter, but this was _her_ house now.

_My house, _she thought. _My house where I live with my… Well, this is my house and my bed and my shower and my living room. No more Tsunade-sama and Red Heart… I'm so tired of them… _

She turned on her stomach and put her arms underneath the pillows. _I would take everything me and Sasuke did back if I could. I would come to Naruto pure and a virgin like he probably wants. I would be somebody that could love him, someone he could marry… _

Her face reddened as she shivered from her cold hair. She pulled the silk around her and tried to sleep, but it wouldn't come. She was too troubled with what-ifs and maybes.

She rubbed her feet together and sighed quietly, eyes drifting when the door gently slid open and someone stepped in. She could hear Akiku meowing.

Naruto pulled back the covers. "Did you shower? Again? You're gonna be sick."

"It was a _hot_ shower, idiot."

He rolled his eyes. _I_ _was wondering when the mean you was gonna return. _"Where are your clothes?"

_On my body. _"In that hamper."

He tugged on his shirt she was wearing. "Tenshi, those were _clean_."

"One more wash won't hurt them! I'm sleepy, go 'way!"

He smirked and grabbed her, flipping her to her back and climbing atop her. "How can you sleep? It's…" he checked a clock on the wall, "…three in the afternoon."

"Well, I'm not an afternoon person, so _go_."

"Hey, I know! Let's go somewhere, me and you." He put both her legs on either side of him, her shirt stretching over her thighs, and looked down, blushing madly. "You're…not wearing panties."

Tenshi smiled and put her arms around his neck, pulling him down. "Let's stay in bed all day and you can find new ways to _please_ me! When's the last time this bed saw some action, huh?" A panting, naked Sakura flashed before her eyes and she cringed.

Naruto just grinned, having not noticed and kissed her neck. "No, really, let's go out!"

She pouted and then frowned. He quickly shook his head. "This is Tokyo, not Rakuen. No one will recognize you, I promise."

"Now, how could you promise something like that to me?"

"'Cause I know. Put your clothes back on and we'll leave. I know just the place too!"

* * *

"What is this?"

"A pet place."

"What's in here?"

"Tenshi…"

"I don't want to go in."

"Akiku will like it."

Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her into the store. She had Akiku in one hand, tight against her chest, and had her side pressed against Naruto as they walked down the aisles. Some people stared and smiled, but all she could hear was their accusations, deadly, like the women that criticized Okaa-san when she walked down the streets.

She pulled her hair over her shoulder when they walked into the kitty aisle. "We need to get Akiku a few things," he said. "I've never had a pet before."

"Really?" she asked. He shook his head and smiled.

Tenshi picked out a small bag of kitten food in the shape of fish and stars, a gold-colored litter box, and come cute toys. Akiku purred happily at everything she showed him. "I like this," she said after a while. "I've, um, never been shopping before. People used to just pick things out for me." She ran her hand down a bag of treats, cocking her head to the side and grabbing them from the rack.

"He needs a collar, a license," Naruto quipped.

"Hmm…" She bounced Akiku gently as she switched aisles and on the opposite side found the collars. It took a minute to find one she liked, but she eventually came across a gilded leather one with a shiny silver buckle. It matched Akiku's left eye. Grinning, she slipped it from its hook, quickly spinning on her heel and accidently bumping into someone.

It was a man, older, with black hair and dark eyes. He had a crude, harsh mouth that smirked when he caught her arms. "Sorry, pretty thing," he said.

She twisted herself away, brows knitted, and hurried back to Naruto on the other side. He held her wrist. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. There was a guy over there—"

"Hey, sorry, hon. Did I hurt you?" The black-haired man came around the corner with a smile on his face. Tenshi didn't find him so frightening somehow with Naruto's arm around her. He approached them and she squinted, seeing a nametag on his chest that read "Akio".

Tenshi shook her head at him and recoiled.

Naruto frowned. "She's a little shy."

Akio smiled. "I bumped into her. She looked a bit shaken."

"I was not…shaken."

"Well," Akio mentioned, "I work here. Is there anything you guys need? Are you sure you're okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine," she said curtly.

Akio nodded and went back to whatever he was doing.

Tenshi scowled. "I don't like him." Naruto's hand slid down into hers as they walked to the register to buy Akiku's new things. "Why not?" he asked softly. "Because he's a man?"

She bit her lip. "He—"

"Tenshi, baby. One day you're gonna see that not everyone is going to hurt you. There are good people in this world." She handed him the items and watched a woman behind the counter ring them up and place them in a bag, except for the collar, which she immediately snagged around the kitten's tiny neck. Naruto grabbed the bags and turned towards the woman. "Can we get a license here too?"

She nodded and gestured to a booth where a young girl was talking to an older woman with a small dog. Naruto thanked her and they went to get Akiku's license.

Tenshi couldn't stop smiling at it as the girl hooked it around the collar. It was in a spherical shape, silver, with the words _"Uzumaki Akiku II" _written at the top with their address and Naruto's cell phone number at the bottom. She kissed her kitten's pink nose. "We're all a family now," she whispered in his ear, too quiet for Naruto to hear. Akiku yawned cutely.

The girl behind the counter reached out to rub his ears. "That's a Japanese Bobtail you got there," she stated matter-of-factly. "An odd-eyed one _with_ all-white fur. Those are pretty rare. He's so cute too." Tenshi almost gushed. "Thanks," she said.

Naruto tossed her a kind smile.

They walked out of the pet store and climbed into the car, the bags in the backseat and Akiku in the front with Tenshi. Naruto started up the car, but didn't drive away. "Do you drive?" he asked her. She was too busy toying with the cat's new collar. He was _dashing_ in gold. "I said, do you know how to drive?"

Tenshi's lip curled, almost as if she was asking, _"Are you high?" _She played with her cat's soft fur. "No, I can't _drive_." Where the hell would she learn to drive?

He sighed playfully. "Another thing I'll be forced to teach you."

"I look forward to it."

He took his foot off the break and took the twenty minute drive home. Naruto lived quiet, secluded, the neighbors a little less than half a mile away. She liked it, the isolation. The aloneness was _nothing_ like Orochimaru's hell hole. It was like no one could touch them, hurt _her_. In that house, under his blue silk sheets, she felt safe and secure, warm and filled. Driving in Tokyo, the city seemed so much bigger. There were so many more people, more places. Maybe she hadn't been paying much attention when she was a little girl.

_How could I? _

Once again, for comfort, she laid her head against the window, her now dry hair splaying around her small shoulders and onto Akiku's head.

Naruto touched her leg. "Let's do something else tonight."

"Oh, no. I really am tired."

"Okay, then, missy; _tomorrow_ night."

She laughed. His heart thudded. "Like _what_, Naruto?"

"I dunno. What do you like to do?"

She glanced at him, her grey eyes unusually clear and bright. He saw there was also a bit of color in her cheeks as well. "What do I like to do?" she repeated. "Nothing."

"Okay. Let's…have a date. Our first date."

"A date?"

"Yeah! You do know what a date is, right?"

"Oh, shut up. I _know_."

"Then let's do it. I mean, we freakin' _live_ together and everything. I think we both deserve a first date." He pulled onto their street.

"Where…where do people even go for a date? L-Like, the movies or something?" _Fuck. _Why was she _fucking stuttering_?

Naruto shrugged. "I was thinking more like dinner. But if you like—"

"No, I _like_ dinner."

"Good. Me too."

"I learn something about you every day."

He pulled into driveway. "Likewise, baby."

"You know, I—" she paused, her eyes trained on the car parked in front of them…in Naruto's driveway—_her_ driveway—with a pretty pink-haired girl leaning against it. "Sakura," she mumbled. Naruto looked up and smiled, getting out of the car to give Sakura a hug. Tenshi growled lightly, putting Akiku under her arm and wishing she made the date _tonight_. Fuck Sakura and her…her _pinkness_. Tenshi walked up the stone path until she stopped right in front of the pair and swallowed. As much as she hated to admit it, Sakura intimidated her. She was obviously smart, went to college, and was very beautiful. Naruto had loved her, she was perfect. Tenshi stared at her small, silver car. She could _drive_.

"Tenshi, hi!" Sakura squealed, reaching in to hug her. She put her arms around her neck and Tenshi hesitantly patted her back. "You look so nice! I was just coming by to make sure you liked everything okay! You know, I _helped_ Naruto design this house! Well, the interior at least." She then had the audacity to grab Naruto's face and peck his tan, scarred cheek. Tenshi's blood boiled. She was about lose it.

"Yeah, you did a good job, Sakura-chan."

"Thanks! Oh, Tenshi, how do you like it?"

Tenshi took deep, unnoticeable, even breaths, feeling the stone walls around her jealous heart and crumble and break. "It's alright," she offered. "The colors are a little wrong, but, hey. You're no professional."

Sakura frowned. "Well."

"Hmm."

"Uh, girls. Sakura, wanna come in?"

"Aren't you a nurse?" Tenshi asked.

Sakura smiled appreciably. "Yeah, I am. You remembered."

"Uh-huh. Don't they usually work around this time?"

"Ah…"

"Tenshi," Naruto said lowly.

She didn't look at him. _You bastard, you are fucking mine._

"No, Naruto," Sakura told him, touching his shoulders. "It's okay, I get it. She's your girlfriend, and I'm—"

"I'm _not_ his girlfriend," Tenshi spat. Naruto reddened and Sakura's mouth twitched. "Then what _are_ you?"

She smirked. "More than whatever the fuck _you_ were. Make sure you get the bags, baby," she called to Naruto. And what that, she took the car keys from his front pocket and carried her kitten into the house, leaving a furious Sakura and a red Naruto.

Sakura's fists clenched. Not for long, she wasn't.

* * *

Sai sat at his stool with a large easel in front of him. The rich man who'd asked him to paint a picture of his daughter had delayed the painting almost a _week_. Sai hated that.

A few minutes later, after he'd set up, a girl and a man identical to her came into his studio, ther mouths in the same downwards, _disappointed_ shape.

"Hello, sir," Sai said. He looked at the girl; at her long brown hair and dark grey eyes. The man cleared his throat. "Hello."

"And who is this beautiful doll here?" he asked.

The man smiled slightly. "My daughter, Hyūga Hanabi."


	14. 13: Closer

**Closer** by **Ne-Yo**—check that shit out. It's perfect for this chapter.

* * *

_And I just can't pull myself away; under her spell, I can't break,  
__I just can't stop._

**.13.  
****come closer**

Gaara stared at Sari's sleeping face for a moment and then rubbed his eyes, checking the time.

2:57 AM.

Ever since she had gotten to his place, his insomnia had gotten worse. He hadn't slept in fifty-six hours, thinking about that _girl_. He wanted to forget her, forget everything, but as soon as Sari had described her, her beauty, her hair, those _eyes_—all his memories had come rushing back.

Tenshi had made an imprint on his weak heart and he couldn't erase it.

He looked around his home. He had big business in Tokyo, but he supposed it was time to head back to Okinawa. He had better partners there anyway and the quiet, beach serene would most likely lull him. Sometimes silence was deafening, and he needed the peace.

He touched Sari's hair and shook her awake. "Nn, Gaara-kun?" she yawned.

"Get up." His voice was throaty. "We're leaving."

"Leaving?" She wiped her mouth. "Where?"

Gaara closed his eyes. He didn't want to be found. "Okinawa. Kumejima, precisely."

"The _island_?"

"Hn."

She groaned, but got up anyway, stringing her hands through her hair. "If you want island, Rakuen is an _hour_ away."

"No."

"Demo…_Gaara_," she whined. "There are no people in Kumejima!"

"Exactly. Get your photos."

Sari sighed, but got up from the bed, stretching. As she bent to the floor to gather her pictures, she saw the dark kimono that the angel-girl had given her and tentatively took it in her hands.

* * *

Tenshi sat in the den with Akiku, watching the news while Naruto tried to hook up some black, shiny box thing. She was getting annoyed. "What is that again?"

He groaned. "A PlayStation 3? PS3? Ya know?"

"Hmm. Do you see me watching this?"

"I won't turn it on 'til _after_ you're done. There's more than one TV in this house, ya know," he added.

She nodded. "Yes, but I like _this_ one. It's the biggest."

He plugged another cord up and sat with her on the couch. "What are you watching anyway?"

Tenshi's eyes narrowed. Those three missing children were all over the screen again; Nakajima Riku, Kuroki Hisano, and Tanaka Yoko. She saw pictures of them. Riku was small with blonde hair and green eyes, and Yoko and Hisano both had dark hair and brown eyes. Tenshi turned the TV off. "Nothing," she replied.

"I read about those girls in a newspaper the first time I met you. They've been missing for a while," he said.

"They're probably dead."

"Maybe not."

She tangled her fingers in his messy hair and pulled his mouth to hers. He responded instantly, wrapping his arms around her slim waist and scaring Akiku off the couch with a screech of terror. Naruto laughed and Tenshi placed both hands on his face, running her thumbs over his pink scars. He looked like a fox or something of the sort with those. Her chest tightened. "I—"

He silenced her with a hard kiss. "Don't think about it."

"But I did it."

He shook his head no and kissed the length of her soft neck until their lips met again. Tenshi, once he was fully on top of her, tried to get his shirt off, but he stopped her, kissing her nose. "I can't," he said. "I've got this smokin' hot date tonight." Tenshi feigned shock. "A date? What's her name?"

"No, no, no, I simply _can't_ tell you."

"And why ever not?" She caught his bottom lip between her teeth. He grinned and stuck his tongue out and she released him.

"You might know her."

Tenshi giggled. "You're an _idiot_."

He rolled them to the point they almost fell of the couch, but he caught them both at the last minute. "Let's get dressed. You can watch me," he sang, getting up and pulling Tenshi with him.

"And have my dessert before dinner? I'd never." Tenshi allowed him to tug her to the master room, Akiku on their heels. He left the shōji to the den open as they crossed the hall to the main bedroom. Naruto took his shirt off and she watched his caramel skin glisten under the light, the muscles contracting together, the thin veins of his arms and hands bulging. He caught her staring and reached over to kiss her lightly. She swatted him away. "What place are we going to?"

"A nice one."

"No, tell me," she said. He squeezed her jaw. "It's a surprise. Take a shower with me."

"No, sir, I won't. I want that shower to myself. You can use the bathroom in the hall."

He wriggled his brows. "Are you giving me orders?"

She smiled brightly. "Maybe."

Naruto made a deep, low noise and wrapped both arms tightly around her mid-section, heaving her off her feet. She screamed in delight, curling her legs and holding onto his arms as he raced into the bathroom and quickly put her on her feet, trying to shrug her shirt off. They laughed together, struggling for dominance, but Tenshi gave in when he started tickling her and obediently raised her arms above her head like a child. Grinning, he kissed her and took off her thin, long-sleeved shirt, tossing it to the tiled floor. She had on a plum-colored lace bra underneath. He reached behind her to unhook it as she wrinkled her nose. "I need more clothes."

"You've got plenty."

"But I'm a _girl_."

He smiled. "I think you just love shopping now. Maybe you can go with Sakura…"

"No."

"I thought _girls_ need friends."

He pulled her along into the large shower and discarded the rest of their clothes, turning the silver knobs so that both scalding hot and freezing cold water came out simultaneously. Tenshi felt the warm spray hit her shoulders and back, the glass screen fogging quickly. "Maybe I don't want Sakura as a friend." She ran her hands down his tan, perfect chest, the muscles rippling under her fingers. How did she snag someone like Uzumaki Naruto? How? He pulled her close and kissed the side of her wet neck. She recalled their conversation from the prior night, when Sakura had visited. Naruto had come into the house about five minutes later after bidding her goodbye with a slight hug (she watched from the window), and then racing to the front door.

"_So you're not my girlfriend?"_

"_Of course not. Don't be silly."_

"_Silly? Tenshi—"_

"_I don't want her in my house."_

He had found it both cute and a complete turn-on that she was getting so possessive of him.

"_It's like you'll be here forever."_

_Tenshi_ had found it completely annoying that he thought so highly of her. _"Forever's just a word."_

Her father had taught her that.

She put her arms around his naked waist, pressing herself against him as he squeezed shower gel onto a washcloth. She stopped him before he could rub it around her chest. "That's for men."

"So?"

"I don't want to smell like a man if we're going out in public."

"Well, I didn't bring your body wash."

She sighed and looked around in the shower before she caught a bar of regular soap sitting on a steel, solid rack. Grabbing it, she held in front of his face, smiling until he slowly took it from her and rubbed it under the washcloth and then proceeded to squeeze the soapy water from the cloth onto her head.

Tenshi liked him. That was it. She could admit it, that she liked him, but she really couldn't feel anything else. When he touched her, her skin ignited, but what did that mean? Sometimes her emotions scared her so severely that she pushed them away to the point she couldn't feel anything except her own emptiness. She was solid, like brick, but he was dissolving everything she had worked to harden. And it was frightening. He was unlike anyone she had ever known. It wasn't always about sex with him. If he said they were going to take a shower, then that's all they did—take a shower. He made sure she was comfortable in any situation and at night, when they slept, his arms went around her stomach and chest and didn't let go until morning.

After getting out the shower, she put a towel around herself and skipped into the bedroom. Naruto had already put her things into the drawers, and she dug around in the third one until she found a yellow summer dress. He had bought the majority of her clothes when he first got her out of Red Heart, and most of them were wither a size too small or too big. She put the dress on the bed and went through the top drawer and found a black bra and panties. He _was_ good at buying the laciest, sexiest underwear he could find though.

Shrugging the underwear over her shoulder, she was about to close the drawer until a sparkle of red caught her eye. She stuck her arm in the opening and felt around until the tips of her fingers brushed something cool and silky. Her heart thudded as she clenched it in her hand and roughly took it from the drawer, placing the obsidian cross to her mouth. It looked smaller than she remembered; the jewels were brighter. She swallowed and put it over her head, feeling the glass cross hit against her chest.

When she was smaller, the cross had been as big as her hand. But now, it seemed, it was about as long as her finger and thick as two of them.

Maybe Okaa-san could give her a little strength for her date.

Tenshi bit her lip as she watched Naruto come out the bathroom with a towel around his narrow hips and drying his hair with a smaller one.

A small, dainty blush scurried across the bridge of her thin nose. He saw it and smiled. "Are you nervous?"

She held the black cross against her chest. "I…I'm fine."

_Goddamn it._

* * *

Hand-in-hand, Naruto and Tenshi walked into a large, lighted, elaborate restaurant. She was having trouble catching her breath, moving to wrap both her tiny hands around his large one and press herself into his arm. Her dress had fit rather well. The straps were thin and the hem came a little above her pinkish knees. She'd done her hair up in a high ponytail because it didn't dry quickly enough. Naruto was in jeans and shirt a shade darker than his eyes. She couldn't stop staring at him.

And neither could a lot of other girls.

Tenshi saw wandering eyes and careful, flirtatious waves cast his way, but he didn't seem to notice anything.

_He's very…dense,_ she realized, brows furrowed as a waiter got them a table. He was fairly young and good-looking, a sprinkle of freckles over his cheeks. He smiled wide at her, handing her a menu and then doing the same for Naruto. "Hello. My name's Shiro. What can I get you two to drink?" he asked.

"Uh, I want water," Naruto said. He looked at Tenshi. "Baby…?"

"Sake. Lots of sake…please." She needed to relax.

Shiro nodded in understanding. "I'll be right back."

Once he took off, Tenshi exhaled deeply and took a look around. It was a spacious place with beautiful Japanese style of decoration. The side of the restaurant opposite of them had round, short tables, fluffy dark pillows seated around them in case anyone wanted to eat traditionally.

Tenshi hated sitting on the floor. She turned back around and scooted herself up in her chair, taking a pair chopsticks from the table and breaking them apart.

Naruto watched her with a curious gaze. "What do you like to eat?" he asked, picking up his menu as Shiro came back with a tall glass of ice water, a grey-colored tokkuri flask, and a wide-mouthed choko cup. As soon as it the table, she filled her cup to the brim and downed it in one gulp. She sort of felt like Ino at that moment and shakily put the cup down in front of her. Shiro stifled a grin. "You guys know what you want?" Naruto shook his head. "A few more minutes."

"Sure." And he walked off.

"Zenzai," Tenshi whispered softly.

"Hmm?"

"My favorite food is zenzai…and cinnamon rolls. I hate crab and shrimp. Yuck." She poured another cup. Naruto blinked. It was a tiny step, but she had just revealed a tidbit of information about herself, and _blushing_ while she said it. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. "What about you?" she whispered.

He grinned. "Ramen. It's my ultimate favorite."

"Of course."

"But it has to be Ichiraku. Not that I don't eat _other_ kinds of ramen though."

She took a small sip of her sake. "Ichiraku?"

"Mhm! A place right by my house."

"Then why didn't we just go there?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, the wheels in his head turning. "Why _didn't_ we?"

She pursed her mouth. "I think you just assumed I liked fancy places when I really don't."

He stood abruptly from his seat, causing his chair to scrape back and people to look around. Tenshi frowned. "W-What are you doing?" _You know what? Don't talk for the rest of the night. _Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her from her chair. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Go? Go where?"

"Ichiraku's!"

He nearly lifted her off her feet trying to get out of the restaurant, but Tenshi tugged him until he stopped right when they were out the door. "We can't just leave!" she said. He shook his head and kissed her temple. "We didn't eat anything. Duh."

She was taken aback. "You're so…bad."

He winked. "You know it."

"Demo, Naruto…that poor boy," she coaxed, referring to their waiter.

"Tch," he mumbled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a few bills and putting them in her hands. "Leave him a tip."

She nodded and quickly raced back to the table in her slippery flip flops, threw the money down, and prepared to go back until the sake flask caught her eye. "I'm nervous," she told herself and grabbed the bottle.

She met him outside and took his hand as they walked to the car. They laughed the entire way to Ichiraku's and Tenshi had finished the sake by the time they pulled up. She skipped a head of him to pull one of the flaps of the booth back and sit at one of the stools. She was slightly tipsy. Naruto sat next to her, and the moment he did, a young girl with long brown hair and brown eyes came from the back and excitedly clapped her hands when she saw him. "Naruto-kun!" she gasped. He smiled. "Ayame-chan! Where's your dad, huh?" She called out, "Tou-san!" and a man with dark hair under a white cap and narrowed eyes appeared from the kitchen.

"Naruto!" he said. "It's been a while!"

"How are ya, Teuchi-san?"

"I'm just—" he stopped, coughed loudly, eyes hooking onto Naruto's date. "Well, Naruto. Who is this?"

The girl, Ayame, blinked in surprise.

Tenshi watched Teuchi's squinted eyes turn into even thinner slits, his body leaning forward until they were nearly nose-to-nose. She felt her forehead break out into a small sweat, hands wringing together under the table. She waited for him to call her out, scream to the crowd walking the streets behind them that she was that dirty, beautiful prostitute from Rakuen's Red Heart. Her heart hammered, her mouth trembling as she said in a tiny, tiny voice, "I-I—" she gulped. _It's…okay. _"My n-name is Tenshi."

He cocked a thin brow. "Angel?"

"H-Hai." _Oh, no._

A few seconds passed. "Well!" Teuchi said. "You are very, _very_ pretty," he told her. "Naruto, ya got yourself a keeper!"

"Ah, yes, sir."

Ayame nodded in agreement.

Teuchi put his fists on his hips. "What can I get you two?"

"I'll have the usual and can we get a bowl of zenzai? The biggest you have."

Teuchi nodded. "Coming right up!" He zipped back into the kitchen while Ayame tended to another customer.

Naruto reached up and strung his fingers through her ponytail before touching her shoulder and pulling her face to his. He kissed her lightly and gently. "I love you."

"I know."

* * *

On the drive home, Tenshi played with the rosary around her neck, her stomach so full it hurt. She felt good, comfortable, but that didn't ease the fact that she was riding around in Tokyo, the devil's city. She stared at Naruto as he drove. Her life right now was a little short from perfect. So when would _he_ come and fuck it up?

She felt the bumps of the car as they pulled into the driveway. Naruto turned the car off and got out first, fumbling with the keys to find the one to the front door. Tenshi got out behind him and, like instinct, found the warmth of his hand. They walked into the house, Naruto kicking off his white sneakers and leaving on his orange socks. He landed on the couch and patted his lap for her to join him.

Her stomach rattled, like she had to vomit. She needed air. "Can I go for a walk?"

He sat up, brows furrowed. "A walk? Why?"

"I just need some fresh air is all." _He doesn't trust me… He thinks I'll run away. _"Just for a little while."

Naruto pouted. "Well, do you know where to go?"

"Sure. I'll just walk up to the stop sign at the end of the block and turn around."

He smiled. She jogged over to him and kissed his lips. _Come back to me, _he thought.

Akiku ran to her and winded around her legs, purring.

"Take him with you," Naruto said. "He'll protect you."

Tenshi laughed and picked him up, touching his gold leather collar. With one more glance at Naruto, she went back to the front door and walked out.

He sat still for a minute and then sighed, running a tan hand through his hair. He decided to watch TV for a little while, take a shower and then go to bed. He was tired and it was rather late. As he put his feet on the couch, he could say that was the best date he had ever been on. Tenshi wasn't as broken as she made herself seem. She was sweet and hesitant, funny and utterly cute. He did worry and wonder why she had wanted to go for a walk, but he did trust her. She wouldn't try to leave him after everything he'd gone through to have her.

Would she?

He groaned and turned the television off, getting up to descend the stairs when a knock was heard at the door. He scratched his head. No way was she back _already_.

He went to open the door, the keys still in it, only to see a wet-faced, puffy-eyed Haruno Sakura. Naruto put his keys on a table by the door beside his wallet. "What happened to you?" he asked. She sobbed and brushed passed him into the house.

"Sakura, hey. Are you okay? What's up?" He took her by the arm and led her to a chair, sitting her down and leaning in front of her. She sniffled and wiped her nose, tears running down her bright red cheeks. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. When they were dating, he'd take her hands and kiss her, but now that wasn't the case. Instead, he patted her knee. Sakura cried harder. She was stressed at work predominantly, but Sai was having many clients call him and ask for portraits.

She was lonely.

Sasuke wasn't around and Naruto…

She _needed_ him.

"Is it alright if I use the bathroom?" she asked, standing. He nodded.

Sakura headed upstairs and once in the hallway, she looked around, feeling the familiar twinge of pure, unadulterated lust in the pit of her belly. She knew there was a bathroom downstairs, but she had always liked the one in his room. Plus, he hadn't said anything about it. She took that as a good sign. Wiping away her tears, she slipped the shōji doors open and walked into the bedroom, running her hand across the silk sheets of the bed. Images of late night loving flashed through her mind. Curious, she lay down over the sheets and crawled up to the side she knew Naruto slept on, putting her face in his pillow. It smelled like him—earth, cinnamon, and ramen broth—but behind it, there was a softer scent. It was something of flowers, baby powder and orange zest.

Tenshi.

Sakura scowled, getting up from the bed and walking over to the dresser. She opened up each drawer and saw female clothes. Her vision webbed and reddened. She was jealous; burning with semi-hate for the beautiful girl that had interfered in on something she'd work so _hard_ to keep stable. It wasn't _wrong_ that Naruto was her second choice. She still loved him, really she did, and she had loved him first. Therefore and quite _logically_, he was totally and completely hers.

How _dare_ this new girl intrude on her territory? She couldn't grasp it.

A few more minutes passed of her searching and skimming her fingers against pictures when she heard him call her name in worry. She didn't answer. After that, he was upstairs, softly saying her name. She held her breath, heart thudding like Congo drums as he slowly entered the bedroom and saw her standing in front of the closed walk-in closet.

"Sakura?" he asked.

She turned around, willing her tears, and put her face in her hands. "Oh, Naruto," she said. He stiffened. "I'm sorry," she wailed.

He approached her, hand on her back. "Why are you crying?"

And just in that instant, like magic, he watched her face twist into something sultry and seductive as she tucked a long strand of pink behind her ear. Her hands, soft and supple, reached out to touch the scars on both his cheeks. "What happened to your face?" she whispered.

He grabbed her wrists and put her arms down. "Nothing. It's nothing."

She nodded and bit her bottom lip. "Naruto…I miss you." She was always _missing_ something.

He blushed, despite himself. "I'm…right here."

Sakura laughed and gestured around the room. "I mean _this_. Us." She shoved her tongue into her cheek, braced her hands at his jeans and roughly pulled him towards her. Before he could conjure exactly what the fuck was happening, she had those pretty hands down his boxer-briefs, gripping him to the point of pain. "_You_," she said again and kissed him. "Touch me," she breathed, "and come closer."

The first thing he thought about was Tenshi, and how her full, pouty lips just _didn't_ fit his like Sakura's thinner, soft ones did.

Something like glass fell downstairs, but Naruto couldn't pull away.

* * *

**Oh, c'mon, don't you **_**dare**_** make that face. You knew this would happen. **


	15. 14: Falling to Pieces

**Breakeven **by **The Script**

* * *

_They say bad things happen for a reason,  
__But no wise words are gonna stop the bleeding._

**.14.  
****i'm falling to pieces**

Tenshi liked the feel of the wind whipping her summer dress around her knees and billowing back her hair. Akiku, on the other hand, hated it. She was holding him in her arms and he was tucking his head in the crook of her elbow, hissing. She walked slowly, rubbing him and watching cars go by. She was already on the way back to the house.

She wasn't scared to be by herself. There was no Neji to guard her from wandering eyes. Maybe the world was not as evil as Tsunade had made it out to be. They had all been wrong.

Tenshi sighed as she went up the stone steps, finding the noise her feet made when they hit them soothing. The door was unlocked, and she stepped in, kicking off her shoes and accidently knocking a vase over in the process. It shattered to the floor, and for a moment she went back to the night where she had heard that glass break, laying on a filthy blanket, and then to the moment where had dropped her sake cup at Red Heart.

She shivered and felt that familiar spike of adrenaline.

Licking her lips, she put Akiku on the opposite side of her, preparing to bend down and clean up the mess when she heard a knocking, rattling noise. She looked up, frowning, and accidently cut her fingers on a shard of glass. "Shit," she said and stuck her pinky in her mouth. "Naruto?" she mumbled, finger in her teeth, and looked towards the staircase. She gulped down saliva and blood, picking her kitten up. The door _had_ been unlocked…

Nervously, Tenshi carefully and quietly walked up the stairs, putting her hand over Akiku's mouth when he yawned. She bit her lip as she walked in the hallway. All the doors were closed except for the master room, so she tiptoed to it and placed her hand on the shōji wood, peeking in.

She dropped the cat.

Sakura, that conniving, _twisted_ bitch, had her hands shoved down his pants, kissing him. And that _asshole_—that fucking leech was kissing her back! He was holding onto her either side of her long, swan neck and _fucking kissing her_.

Tenshi couldn't breathe. After a second or so passed, she grabbed Akiku from the floor, running as fast as her bare feet would take her down hall and stairs. Once back in the living room, she put her feet in her sandals and spotted Naruto's keys and wallet by a table. "Fuck you, you bastard," she spat and grabbed them both, opening the front door and loudly slamming it shut. She sprinted to his car, hopping in and putting Akiku in the passenger seat. Clumsily, she fumbled with shaky hands to get the right key and put it in the ignition, jamming it in as hard as she could and revving the engine. She put the car in drive, placed her foot on the accelerator, and swerved passed Sakura's ugly little car, going in the grass until she got on the dark road. She was going way too fast at first, and then slowed, trying to collect her thoughts so she could drive without killing herself.

Akiku purred.

Or him.

She swallowed the accumulating spit in her mouth and turned the car into Ichiraku's parking lot once she spotted it. She could see the old man and his daughter serving people, and for a moment she thought she just might go up there and tell them what kind of man Naruto _really_ was, but she didn't.

Instead, she put her head against the steering wheel and cried her eyes out.

* * *

It took everything in Naruto's power not to tighten his grip against Sakura's neck and throttle her purple. Yes, their mouths did fit like puzzle pieces, but she was his _past_. Why was she doing this? Why _now_, after all the time he had spent trying to regain her lost love?

His hands shook as he pressed his thumbs into her throat, watching her eyes pop open. She sputtered once and gasped for her lost breath before he roughly shoved her away. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he seethed, fixing his pants. Sakura opened her mouth to retort when the sound of a door slamming resounded through the house, followed by a car swerving, wheels burning rubber. Naruto blinked, mouth agape as he tried to fathom what on earth the noises could possibly be. He looked around the room for a moment, eyes wide as his gaze traveled to Sakura, and then to her red mouth.

"Fuck!" he cursed and flew out of the room and downstairs, almost falling as he reached the bottom. He checked the kitchen for her, the living room, called her name, but no answer was heard.

He let out a string of profanities, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw that his keys and wallet were missing from the table by the door. His breathing hitched. What the hell? Panicking, he raced to the door and flung it open. Sure enough, his car was missing and Sakura's front bumper was hanging off slightly. There were also deep tire lines in his grass, a few flower pots tipped and cracked. He went back in the house, gently closed the door, and then punched the wall. It dented, the paint chipping, and the tight skin over his knuckles split, but he seemed not to notice the pain.

Sakura bounded down the steps then, her neck holding faint red marks, the nerves and muscles becoming more prominent as she swallowed deeply and tried to think of something to say. She carefully walked over to Naruto, who was letting his hand bleed, and touched his shoulder.

He spun around, holding a finger in front of face. His eyes were dark, like the deepest part of the ocean, and his face was red with anger.

"Naruto," she whispered, but he cut her off with, "Why?"

She didn't look down or skid away in fear, but held her head high and squared her shoulders. She didn't have an answer. "Why what?"

"_Goddamn_ it, Sakura!"

"I thought this was what you wanted!"

"No! No, this is not what I wanted!" He pointed to the dent in the wall. "And you knew that! Sakura, you fucking _knew_ it!"

She shook her head in denial. "_You_ know I still love you. I'd do anything for you and she… I just thought maybe you were going through some sort of rebound phase and I—"

"Rebound phase?" he asked, stepping closer to her. She stood her ground. "Yes."

Naruto laughed. Sakura faltered. "You know I never knew what you were until this day. Maybe I didn't want to know, or maybe I was just too _stupid_." She winced as he continued, "You were using me the whole time, weren't you? To get closer to Sasuke? To feed your lying, manipulative ways?"

"I am _not_ _any_ of those things, you asshole. And I wasn't using you."

"You sure about that? 'Casue after three fucking years of my life spent totally on you, and then to have my best friend tell me that you love _him_, and then have you _admit_ to it, it sure as hell seems like it."

"Listen to me. I was confused, okay?"

His eyes narrowed in genuine curiosity. "What is it about Sasuke that makes you girls drool like bitches in heat?"

Sakura's mouth fell open. "Naruto…"

He seethed, "I'm not letting her get away from me. I obviously fucked _something_ up with you, but I won't lose Tenshi to anyone. Especially not Sasuke."

She frowned."Who is the girl anyway? I mean, she's not your 'girlfriend', but you're living together, and what kind of name is—?"

"Sakura, I think it's time for you to go."

"She's…_hiding_ something. Isn't she?"

"Sakura," he hissed.

She swallowed and adjusted her clothing, walking passed him and to the front door. Before her hand hit the knob, her fingers brushed across the dent in the wall. Something that looked like a smile—but _wasn't_—spread across her mouth as she opened the door and walked out of the house. Naruto took pleasure in her horrified shriek when she was at the porch, realizing she must've noticed her car. He heard her cursing madly, a door slam, and then her ignition starting as she angrily drove home. He waited a few minutes before going to the door and locking it. Only after he ran his hands along the mantle did he realize his wallet was missing as well.

His eyes stung, but not with tears.

Tenshi had all his money and was driving his car to God-knows-where. And hadn't she said she couldn't operate a vehicle?

He was worried for her, about what she was probably feeling. He groaned and buried the heels of his hands into his eyes, willing time to go back and hour or two. They should've never left home. Who needs dates? He should've just got into bed with her, just the two of them, and Sakura never would've never even been able to step into the house.

Slowly pulling a hand through his hair, he dug into his pocket for his cell phone and dialed Kiba's number.

"_What."_

"Kiba, it's me."

"_I don't know of _you_ know about this, but there's this little thing called 'caller ID' that lets _me_ know who's—"_

Naruto sighed, "No, Kiba, listen. I need you to do something for me."

* * *

Tenshi sat in Ichiraku's parking lot until the old man and his daughter turned off the lights. By then, she put most of the broken pieces of her heart together and turned the car back on, easing it out of the lot and onto the street. Driving was not hard for her.

She smiled a little at the thought and looked down at Akiku. "At least I'm good at something besides working in the bedroom, huh?" she whispered.

She wasn't exactly sure where she would go, but it didn't matter. She had a working vehicle, money, and cat to talk to. "I'll never be alone," she told herself, turning a corner. Tears welled in her eyes. "I don't need anyone. I'm fine by myself. I can survive…by m-myself…" She hiccupped, sniffling, crystalline droplets falling down her cheeks and rolling underneath her chin, making a wet trail down her neck and then finally into her dress. Crying was awful. She tried to think of something else—anything else—but her mind refused to wonder.

Why couldn't anyone love her? Was she broken? Defected?

Was she _unlovable_?

Tenshi roughly sank her teeth into her bottom lip, feeling the skin tear and pool blood against her tongue. She had been driving for almost an hour across a long highway, hoping she would somehow end up back in Rakuen. Her eyelids were heavy and her heart was broken, but she kept her foot on the accelerator and kept driving. Akiku had curled up into small white ball in the passenger's seat and had long ago fallen into a deep sleep. She reached over to touch his pointed ears every once in a while and turned her gaze back onto the road.

After twenty more minutes, she spotted a nice-looking hotel and quickly pulled into it, parking the car and switching off the ignition. She played with the keys in her hands, leaning back against the seat for a moment to calm down and think. A few more tears ran down her face as she saw flashes of Sakura and Naruto kissing.

She raised a foot and smashed it against the steering wheel with all her might, causing the horn to honk and Akiku to jump out of his fur. She breathed harshly, her chest tight, but grabbed the keys and Akiku and got out of the car. Naruto's wallet was tucked into her bra, and she pulled it out once she entered the hotel and walked into the lobby. It was decorated a lively red color with chocolate marble counters. The floor was also marble, an off-white with specks of red and rich brown. There were beautiful, extravagant lights way above her head, classical paintings on the wall and expensive looking furniture scattered around.

Tenshi nodded in appreciation as the man behind the counter cast a grin at her. "Hello and welcome to Sakura," he said.

She frowned. "I _beg_ your pardon?"

He cocked a brow. "The hotel? Sakura Hotel?"

_Of course it is. _She sighed, almost getting the nerve to spin around and get the fuck out of there, but instead she waved it off with her hand and held Akiku up."Please tell me you allow pets." He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, we do actually."

"_That's_ a relief."

"What can I help you with?"

She smirked. "A suite please; the best you have." She went through Naruto's wallet and picked out one of his gold cards.

"Oh, you can pay after your stay. How many days?"

Her mouth opened and then closed before opening again. "Just tonight. Just tonight is fine."

He nodded began typing on the computer next to him. "Name?"

"W-What?" Her heart dropped.

"I, um, need your name, ma'am."

_Fuck, fuck, fuck! _She hated _everything_. "Uzumaki…Tenshi." She would dip herself in hydraulic acid before _ever_ using her father's name.

He typed it in. She gave him the credit card number and he turned around to unlock a dark, large cabinet and take out a black keycard and an actual key, putting them into one of her small hands. "Complimentary breakfast is in the morning. I hope you have a wonderful stay." She smiled and nodded, slowly walking through the lavish lobby until she reached an elevator. Her keycard had the floor her suite was on and the room number.

Tenshi bit her bottom lip as she pressed the number eight on the elevator pad and felt it smoothly take her three floors up until it stopped, letting another person on. She didn't pay attention as a woman stepped in beside her, but what did catch her gaze were the woman's eyes.

They were the color of blood.

Tenshi threw herself against the elevator wall, pressing her cat into her chest, her own eyes wide and confused.

Yuhi Kurenai smirked. "I was wondering why you didn't recognize me right off. I recognized you."

"What the hell are you doing here, you sick bitch?" Tenshi spat.

Kurenai leaned back and closed her eyes. "You still haven't forgiven me. Oh, Hinata."

They hit the fifth floor.

"Well, it's not Hinata anymore. It's Tenshi." She crossed one of her arms under her breasts. Kurenai put a hand to her mouth and then bit her rose red bottom lip. Her black hair was still in curls, still long. She was still beautiful, so dangerously beautiful. "Honey, why? Why would you become a—?"

"Trust me, it wasn't a fucking choice."

"Then what happened?"

She sighed softly. "Okaa-san's pimp sold me to a man that…really had a thing for little girls."

"Kami-sama…"

"He's not listening to you."

"Hinata, I'm so sorry." She walked up to her and boldly put her arms around her shoulders as the elevator opened to the eighth floor. But Tenshi didn't struggle. She needed this right now; some kind of affection, someone to hold her. So she let the woman with the red eyes hug her while she cried into the side of her neck, wishing that Kurenai would, somehow, turn into Naruto.

* * *

They sat on the floor of the suite, backs against the bed, flipping stations on the platinum screen television that was against the wall. Tenshi's legs were tightly crossed while Kurenai's were spread as she played with Akiku between them. There was a comfortable aura in the large room as Tenshi flipped to a cooking network. They had been talking for hours.

"Why are you here?" Kurenai asked her.

"I'm taking a vacation."

"From…?"

"Life."

"Hinata—_Tenshi_, you've got to get out of that old lifestyle. Prostituting yourself is never the answer. You need to—"

"Who the hell are you to tell me that prostituting is never the answer? Huh?"

Her lips thinned. "Believe it or not, I got out of my ways a long time ago."

Tenshi looked down. "I have to…sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"I was, uh, living with someone." She brought her legs to her chest. "But I don't think we'll be living together anymore." Her throat tightened.

"What happened, sweetheart?" Kurenai scooted closer to her.

"I saw him with another girl; his ex. They were…kissing in our—_his_ room." Her eyes filled with tears. God, she was a wreck. "He just didn't seem l-like the type. I mean, he kept saying he loved m-me, but I guess he didn't." She buried her face in her knees. "I'm too late for happiness," she whispered. "It's t-too late for me." Tenshi swallowed and felt the gentle touch of the older woman's hand on the back of her neck, tossing away her long black hair to the side. "How old are you now, honey?" Kurenai asked.

"Nineteen."

She smiled. "Such a good age. Listen to me this time, Tenshi. Men are vile. They _do_ twist you. But sometimes you have to have the courage to see what's real. If this boy was charming enough to get _you_ to live with him, maybe you should give him a second chance." She kissed her cheek. "You're nothing like your mother," she said in her ear.

Tenshi looked up in surprise.

Kurenai nodded. "You know that, don't you?"

She stuck her tongue into her cheek. Her mother had let the memory of a man completely eat away at her very being until there was nothing left. Tenshi would never let that happen to her. Kurenai smiled a bit. "That day, when we went to Hitomi Beach, I was pretending the whole time you were my daughter. I was lonely and you were the prettiest little thing I'd ever seen. Still are."

"What about Asuma?"

"You remember his name?"

She rolled her eyes. "He was a bit hard to forget."

"We weren't a couple. He was just someone I found comfort in. For a long time I thought I loved him, but I was wrong. I was stupid, too. I thought that if I let him have his way with me, he would realize that we were perfect for each other…"

Tenshi frowned. "Why did you kick him out that morning?"

Kurenai's eyes watered. "He wanted—" she coughed, "…to have sex with you. To rape you. He told me he was going to go out where you were and rape you, so I panicked and threw a glass at his face. When you came in the room, I was drunk. I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about with people wanting to love you. But you wouldn't let me touch you. I'm glad you didn't."

Tenshi blinked out tears. "He was going to…rape me?"

"Hai."

"You saved me."

She grinned. "I love you, Hinata. And that's who you are. You're Hinata. You need to talk with that man."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm scared I'll be wrong."

"About what?"

She touched Akiku's head. "I'm afraid he'll really love me."

Kurenai handed the cat to her as a phone rang from inside her jean's pocket. She took it out and turned the alarm off. "It's seven o' clock in the morning. We stayed up the _whole_ night."

"I'm not even tired."

"Hinata." She put her hand on top of her head. "I know things are hard now, but trust me. Go back."

"What if he doesn't really love me, though? What if he loves the other girl?"

"Then, sweetie, you move on."

_Move on. _Could she? "O-Okay." _Damn that stutter. _They both stood up and fixed their clothes, Kurenai grabbing her purse. Tenshi held Akiku as they walked out of the suite and to an elevator, going down onto the second floor so that Kurenai could get her bags. From there, they went on down to the lobby. Tenshi noticed that the man at the counter was the same from the night prior, and she, for some reason, was feeling happy to see him.

"How was your stay?" he asked.

"Great, thanks." She watched him bring up Naruto's credit card information as she paid for her suite. "Leave yourself a nice tip," she mentioned, looking through his wallet. Naruto had about fifteen cards—he could spare a little loss.

Tenshi waited for Kurenai to pay and then walked easily with her out of the door of Sakura Hotel. They turned towards each other and hugged tightly. "I forgive you," Tenshi said quietly.

"Thank you."

Kurenai then pulled something from her purse, a small card, and handed it to Tenshi.

"What is this?"

"My card."

"Huh?" She ran her hand across the hard rectangle piece of paper and saw a phone number at the bottom. But there was something else. "What's the Butterfly House?"

Kurenai leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Just call that number if you ever need anything; a place to stay, food, water, me. Anything. Even a vacation. Do you promise?"

"I…promise."

"Good." She reached out to pat Akiku on the head. "He's so cute."

"I had one just like him."

"I know. Your mother gave him to me."

"What?"

"The day she kicked me out, I came back that night because I'd forgotten something and she was sitting on the porch. She had him in her hands and asked me to watch after him because you two were moving."

"Okaa-san…didn't let him die?"

"Of course not. He was your cat." She ruffled Tenshi's bangs. "I'll be seeing you, Hinata." She hauled her purse higher on her shoulder and walked into the parking lot, taking her keys out.

Tenshi smiled and kissed her kitten's tiny head. As she prepared to walk to Naruto's car, a man with wild brown hair crashed into her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Thank God!" he shouted, clearly out of breath. "Fuck! I finally found you."

She struggled to get loose from his hold. "Who the hell are you?"

The man bent over, his breathing labored. "I'm Kiba. Naruto's friend."

She gulped.

* * *

**Okay. I know it gets extremely difficult to read because it's sad and whatnot, but you've gotta bear with me. It's got a happy ending. Ya'll know things get worse before they get better! Anyway, as you can see, Naruto did not cheat on Tenshi. He does love her! Sakura's just being hostile and petty.**

**Sorry my update was a little late, but lots have been going on. I'm trying to stay on life's crazy bull ride! I hope you enjoyed the little surprise at the end and don't forget to review! So, here we go:**

**Junky: **Sakura is getting difficult, isn't she? And, no, of course Naruto did not cheat, as you saw. That would be bad, wouldn't it?

**4master: **Am I going to slow? Oh, God…

**Elite Ninja Bookworm: **Thank you. I think more than one person has actually compared this to a train wreck. And, yes, I know it's hard to read, but I'm glad you like it.

**Kataangforever2: **UM, YEAH! But your parents are paying for the wedding.

**HiNa-cH4n: **Oh, my God, it's like you totally get it! And we'll be meeting Orochimaru soon…

**Melancholytown: **Honey, you could _never_ be a bother if you're reading something _I_ wrote. And Tenshi going back to Sasuke? Not likely.

**LonewolfBloodstorm: **Nah, Tenshi and Sakura came from two different directions. She was walking left and Sakura came driving from the right.

**gamehead64: **I've heard that, yes.

**Kibble Kin Slider: **Naruto loves Tenshi, silly goose.

**SpeeDemon: **It…_unnerves_ me that you say that. Why does it feel that way? Please explain to me how so I can fix it.

**Tally 3703: **Yes, they have come far, haven't they?

**Halaxis: **I set the story in the present day, so that's why. And yes, I plan on originality. Can't ya tell?

**Peace, babes. Well, until next time.**


	16. 15: Run

"_Isn't there a special place for people like Sakura? Like maybe HELL?" –_Kataangforever2. I had to LOL after reading that one.

**My Dilemma **by **Selena Gomez. **I suggest you listen to her new album if you haven't already: **When the Sun Goes Down. **It's really—surprisingly—good.

* * *

_I could live without you,  
__Your smile, your eyes, the way you make me feel inside._

**.15.  
****run from you**

"You're…Naruto's friend?" Tenshi asked, stepping back a bit. Kiba nodded, wiping his forehead and standing straight. He had been _literally_ running around town looking for this girl because Hana was in one of her moods and told him he needed the exercise. So what did she do? She dropped him off a block from their house and told him she would call him in an hour.

He wanted to vomit.

"Naruto asked me to look for you. He said you might've wandered back into Rakuen and…here you are."

She bit her bottom lip and ran her hands up her bare arms, the ends of Kurenai's card digging gently into her skin. The wind blew around them, swirling strands of black hair around her cheeks and lips. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching Kiba pull out a black touch screen cell phone and punch in a number. She felt awkward, small as he put the phone to his ear and let out a deep breath before barking, "Hana! Where the _fuck_ are you? I found her, so call me back!" He angrily pushed another button and then glanced up at her.

Tenshi frowned.

"That was my sister," he explained. "She's coming to pick us up."

"No."

"What?"

"I'm…not going back."

Kiba, surprisingly, let out a laugh. Tenshi felt her brow furrow and her arms tighten around herself and Akiku.

"Oh, you don't understand," he said. "I've been running all over Rakuen looking for _you_; you, my idiot friend's girlfriend that he obviously can't _breathe_ without. He's probably back at home right now watching chick flicks and eating a tub of ice cream, thinkin' about you. So, we gotta go. _Now_."

She took a shaky breath, blinking rapidly. What if Kurenai was right about those second chances? What if what she'd seen had all just been a misunderstanding, a mistake, and Naruto was waiting for her to come back home? She knew what it felt like to love someone, but she wasn't sure if she knew what it felt like to _be_ loved. Wasn't something magical supposed to occur? Deep down, she had come to terms that the quickening of her pulse or the clamminess of her skin that happened whenever Naruto looked at her didn't come from a place of hate or dislike.

Tenshi did love things. She had loved her mother, she loved Akiku, and she was beginning to like Kurenai more and more.

But how was she to know when someone returned the feeling?

_I'm hopeless, _she thought, staring down at her feet. A piece of her heart had been eaten and it was still bubbling away in the pit of Orochimaru's stomach. Maybe that was the piece where Naruto should've been.

Kiba was staring at her, studying the way she moved and how her teeth were working wounds into her lips. He couldn't fathom how she and Naruto hadn't completely killed each other yet. Judging from what he'd heard about Tenshi and then just knowing Naruto, he didn't see how they could make whatever they had _work_. They were just too different.

He licked his lips, hot from the heat of the sun and looked for a number on his phone. Tenshi could hear the quiet beeping and glanced up, eyes slightly wide. "Are you calling…your sister?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Who?" She couldn't find her drive, the misery that she usually fueled into anger. She couldn't get mad at him for giving her such an incomplete answer. The old Tenshi would've cursed him out. The old Tenshi would've spun on her heel and walked away. The old Tenshi would not have felt her eyes well up with tears at Kiba's next words.

"I'm calling Naruto."

She couldn't feel the old Tenshi anymore. Her hate for everything, for love, for the happiness of others, wasn't present at the moment. There was only a young woman, teary-eyed and broken, that couldn't find the will to fly.

She raced to Kiba and wrestled the phone from his ear, having put Akiku down. "What the hell is your problem?" he hissed, holding her back by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't call him," she pleaded, hands shaking by her sides.

"Why not? You don't wanna go home and I'm not about to let him suffer." He gave her a small shove so that she went back a few steps. Her throat constricted, words caught. _I can't be alone another day. _"I'm going back!" she suddenly screamed, startling Kiba. He put the phone to his side, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Why?" he asked.

Tenshi swallowed. Her insides were warm instead of blazing hot. It was different. "You said he's waiting for me. I wouldn't want to disappoint."

Kiba snorted. "What? And then you're gonna run away when the going gets rough?"

Her nose wrinkled. "That wasn't why I left," she defended, bending down to scoop Akiku back up into her arms.

"Then what was the reason, princess?"

"Naruto, he—I…" she paused, confused. "H-He didn't tell you?" She was stammering again; nervous, unsure.

"Tell me what?"

Tenshi opened her mouth to respond when Kiba suddenly put his hand up, cutting her off, his eyes focused on something over her shoulder. Cautiously, she peered behind her to see what he was gawking at, and blushed slightly to realize he was staring—slack-jawed now—at Naruto's car. "Well," he started, "that explains why he couldn't get you himself. You stole his _car_."

She shrugged, speechless. _And his wallet… _

Kiba shook his head slowly. "This is _insane_."

"Well, now you won't have to walk back home," she tried and saw him smirk in response. He put a hand through his disheveled brown hair and walked to stand beside her. Tenshi dug into a pocket on the side of her dress and pulled out the keys to the car. She supposed he didn't need to know about the wallet. Kiba reached for them but she pulled her hand back. "What is it _now_?" he whined. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his childish behavior, but straightened up once again. "I can't go home yet. I need time to think a little." Her voice got smaller. "I'm not ready."

He quirked his mouth and snatched the keys from her hand. "Fine. Hana would _love_ another soul to eat."

"Y-Your sister?"

"My burden?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing…"

Tenshi rubbed Akiku's ears and followed Kiba to the car, sliding in the passenger seat once he had unlocked it. She buckled her seatbelt and placed her kitten in her lap, watching Kiba from the corner of her eye as he started the car. She was a bit worried about being in a vehicle alone with another man, but she tried not to let it get to her.

"_One day you're gonna see that not everyone is going to hurt you." _

She smiled softly. Naruto was usually right. And this was his friend; someone he trusted enough to venture out and search for her.

Kiba turned the radio and the air conditioning on, getting out onto the road.

"Where are we, exactly?" Tenshi asked.

"The outskirts of Rakuen, I think. I don't usually take this highway to Tokyo."

"You live in Tokyo, too?"

"Mhm, I sure do. Best place ever, right?"

She nodded a bit. "If you love it so much, why are you still in Rakuen?"

He sighed sadly. "My house is under remodeling. I'm pretty sure they're finished but my sister won't let me leave. She hides their phone calls from me." She laughed, startling herself. Kiba slipped a toothy grin. "So that's funny?"

She cocked her head to the side. "She must miss you a lot…when you're away."

"I mean, I guess. It's not like she's alone or anything. She's married."

"Does she have children?" A stabbing pain suddenly pierced her abdomen. But it somehow wasn't physical.

"Nah. She's not ready for 'em."

She swallowed hard. "Oh."

"You'll like her, maybe. She's really cool once ya get passed the nagging-as-fuck part of her personality. Me and my mom had to deal with it for _years_."

Tenshi smiled. "I hope so."

After about thirty minutes, she started to recognize where they were as Kiba took a few turns into the town. It was the same yet entirely different, and she realized that she never wanted to see this place ever again. She hated Rakuen, everything about it. People knew her there and their mothers and fathers knew Okaa-san. She was talked about, the center of gossip, the beautiful angel girl that people pitied. She was a whore in Rakuen, that poor little girl that had no one.

Her mind was so jumbled, so preoccupied that she didn't notice Kiba take out his phone again. Her heart leapt. "Who are you calling?" she seethed. He glanced at her. "Don't worry. It's not your boyfriend."

_Boyfriend. _Perhaps.

She listened as he spoke to the person on the other line.

"Have you left yet?" he said. "Great, I'm coming over right now. Don't move a fuckin' muscle."

"What are you doing?" Tenshi asked.

"Do you mind? I have to visit my friend and get something from him before he goes back to Tokyo." He made a U-turn.

"Is this…Naruto's friend too?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, we're all cool."

"Alright," she said. They drove for another ten minutes before arriving at a very nice-looking home in a quiet, quaint neighborhood. She was a little confused as Kiba pulled into the driveway and unbuckled his seatbelt. It didn't seem like any young people would live in a neighborhood like this one. She had walked with Neji a few times up the block and it was nothing but elderly folks sitting on their porches, drinking tea and smiling at the world in front of them. Kiba turned towards her and jerked his head in the direction of the house. "Come on in," he said. "Are you sure?" she mumbled.

"Yeah, let's go! Oh, you might not wanna bring—"

"What?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing. C'mon."

Tenshi shrugged and put Akiku under one arm as she smoothed out the front of her dress and opened the passenger door, quickly getting out of the car and walking behind Kiba to the front door. She looked at her surroundings while he knocked, taking in the nice, freshly-cut lawn and the welcome mat in front of her feet that said _"Go to Hell"_. She stifled a laugh and watched Akiku's eyes follow the movement of three butterflies as they flapped gracefully around the yard. He meowed, struggling to get out of her arms, but she held him tightly. Kiba banged on the door a few times, finally giving up turning around to face her. "What's the matter?" she asked. "I thought he was home."

Kiba nodded. "He is." He then proceeded to search under the door mat and feel around the assorted flower pots lining the cobble stone walkway. He rolled his eyes and separated a few of the flowers away from each other and pulled out a silver key. "He's just too lazy to open the door."

Tenshi blinked in surprise.

He stabbed the key into matching hole in the door and turned it, walking in with her on his heels. A man was sitting on the living room sofa, shirt off as he flipped through stations on the television sitting up on the wall. His black hair was brought to the back of head in a ponytail, a few wayward strands curling around the sides of his face. Tenshi walked around Kiba to observe the house, taking in its white walls and dark furniture. It looked like the ultimate bachelor pad, and the man on the couch, who now had a cigarette lit between his thin lips, looked up at the ceiling and frowned. He blew out a puff of smoke into the air around them and mumbled, "How _troublesome_."

Kiba clapped his hands. "Troublesome is right, ya douche. You couldn't answer the door for us, huh?"

"Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Busy? I oughta—"

"Wait. Did you say 'us'?" He finally turned around to face them, narrow brown eyes widening slightly. He smirked, stood and stretched, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans and lazily walking over to them.

Tenshi absently looked down at her feet as he moved to stand directly in front of her, holding his hand out. She adjusted the kitten in her arms to cautiously extend her hand out and let him grasp it. His grip was firm and unusually settling. He nodded. "Tenshi, I presume?"

"Yes," she said. He let her hand go and she felt it fall back to her side, lifeless.

"Nara Shikamaru."

She could remember how to be polite. "Nice to meet you." She stared at Shikamaru's hair. It was in disorder and in disarray like Naruto's. Her heart clenched. He also had earrings; two in each ear. Her head cocked to the side.

"Well!" Kiba said. "Now that we all know each other, I'll just get what I came for."

Shikamaru took another puff of his cigarette. Tenshi's nose wrinkled. She had tried to get into smoking once, but she had just never been good at it.

"Wait a sec," he said.

"_What_?" Kiba growled.

"What are you doing with her?" He motioned towards Tenshi.

Kiba sighed. She bit her bottom lip. "It's a long, difficult, weird story. Naruto just asked me to go pick her up. I'm sure he'll call you later."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Tell 'em not to bother. It's way too troublesome."

Kiba muttered something that sounded like "asshole" under his breath. He then grinned, cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, "Akamaru!"

Tenshi jumped. Almost immediately, a small brown and white dog with squinted eyes raced around the corner of the house, tripping over his four legs to jump into Kiba's arms. He whined as he licked all over the man's tan face, tail wagging impossibly fast. It was at that moment, while Kiba and Akamaru were saying hello, did Akiku jump from Tenshi's arm and move to sit on the floor in front of man and dog. Akamaru suddenly stopped licking and whining, his ears perking.

Tenshi's eyes widened. "Don't put him—"

Kiba put the dog down.

Akiku and Akamaru sat face-to-face, staring at each other.

"Were you going to tell me not to bring my cat?" Tenshi asked Kiba. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Kinda."

"You—"

One of the animals yawned. They had both collapsed into each other, Akiku's head on the Akamaru's stomach, noses twitching and eyes closed.

Shikamaru chuckled, putting his cigarette out. "I think they like each other."

Kiba smirked. "Who _couldn't_ love Akamaru? I mean, look at him. He's charming, like me."

"Wow," Shikamaru said. "Comparing yourself to a smelly mutt. You've hit new lows, my friend."

Tenshi smiled.

"You are such an _asshole_, you lazy prick! I oughta kick your ass!"

"Kick it or sniff it, puppy boy?"

* * *

"Inuzuka Kiba! You brought that _dog_ over here!"

"What did you expect me to do, Hana? Shikamaru is going back to Tokyo tomorrow and I frankly don't trust Choji with my dog."

"You know Haru is allergic to dogs, Kiba."

"You know what, sis? That's why I'm leaving in a week. Haru can wait a measly seven days. They're finished with my house, so you're not keeping me here any longer."

"Kiba, I _swear_, you're so—oh! Hello, honey!"

Tenshi smiled a bit and raised her hand to wiggle a few of her fingers. She and Kiba were standing right at the threshold of the entrance to the pretty neighborhood house, their pets sitting down at their feet. She couldn't help but nervously fiddle with the hem of her summer dress, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles and digging her nails into the thin skin at the top of her hand. Kiba's sister—Hana, he'd said—was very pretty with large brown eyes and long, chocolate-colored hair pulled back into a low ponytail. A few strands of it framed her face as she tossed a kind smile. "Kiba, you didn't tell me we had a guest."

He grumbled, "Ya wouldn't let me get it out."

She cast him a glare. "Shut it. So, honey, what's your name? What on earth are you doing hanging out with my idiot little brother?"

Tenshi was surprised Hana didn't already know who she was. Her heart stopped its wild hammering and slowed considerably. "My name is Tenshi." She held out her hand and felt warmth spread throughout her arm as Hana's skin met hers. She had never been introduced to such nice people over the span of a day.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kiba's sister, Hana."

"Sis, this is Naruto's girlfriend; the one I was looking for. Remember? When ya dropped me off and told me to walk all over fucking Japan?"

She smirked. "Oh. That."

"Uh-huh."

Hana dismissed him with a casual wave of her hand. "How about you and Akamaru go play? Don't bring him upstairs though; Haru's sleeping."

Kiba blinked. "_Play_?"

"Go!" she barked. He moaned loudly, scooped Akamaru into his arms and proceeded to turn on his heel and go back out the front door. His shoulder brushed Tenshi's and he whispered, "Good luck," before slipping a toothy grin and walking out, closing the door behind him. Hana rolled her eyes and took Tenshi's hand, leading her passed the living room and into a large, beautiful kitchen. The walls were the color of coffee with too much milk, the floors a warm, welcoming dark wood. The refrigerator was black, two-door, and the counters were a hue of rich brown cinnamon with marble ebony tops and three stools pushed up to them. There was a black stove and cabinets, vases of flowers on the cooking counters and high lights that filled the entire kitchen with a comforting glow. Tenshi felt a sigh escape her lips as she found a seat at one of the stools and crossed her arms over the cool marble top. She pulled some hair behind her ear and realized that she hadn't slept since the night before last.

She was suddenly extremely tired.

Hana patted her hand. "Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"Oh, um…yes." Her stomach then growled.

"What do you like?"

"I, ah, like everything. Anything is fine." Hana made a face and walked around the counter, using a hand to cup around the side of Tenshi's tiny waist. "You like everything?" she repeated. Tenshi blushed.

"It looks like all the food you eat goes straight to your boobs," Hana clarified, sizing her up. Tenshi's hands instinctively went to her chest, fingers splayed over the cloth of her dress. Her neck flared crimson as she thought of Naruto's hands coming over hers.

And then she saw Orochimaru's.

Her hands quickly flitted back down to rest in her lap, her eyes meeting Hana's in a kind way. "They're not that big…" she said with a smile.

"Sure they aren't. What do you wanna eat, Tenshi?"

"Whatever you have is fine."

She nodded and walked over to the fridge to prepare some food while Tenshi leaned further into the counter and placed her chin on her arms. Around twenty minutes later, as they talked about this and that, just getting to know one another, a few bowls were placed in front of her along with a pair of break-away chopsticks. Her stomach moaned louder as she stared at the soba noodles, rice topped with two pieces of grilled fish, rice balls wrapped in nori seaweed, and various sandwiches. Hana put a tall glass of water next to her food and Tenshi broke her chopsticks, immediately digging in.

"Whoa, girl. Why didn't you say you were hungry sooner?"

Tenshi stuffed a rice ball in her mouth, chewing quickly and then swallowing. "Sorry." She hiccupped.

"You're eating too fast. Boyfriend doesn't cook this good at home, does he?"

She chocked on her water a little. "W-What?"

Hana leaned in front of her, lips twitching. "Naruto. You know, he and Kiba have been friends for a long time. He hasn't had a steady girlfriend in a while."

"You mean for about two years?" She put another rice ball in her mouth.

"Mhm. With Haruno Sakura. Have you met her?" Tenshi smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately."

"She's a sweet girl. Seems a little unstable, but sweet."

"Hana-san," Tenshi mumbled.

"You can call me Hana, honey."

"Hana…do you believe in love?"

"Of course I do! I'm married." She grabbed Tenshi's empty bowls and put them into the sink, refilling her water glass and then going around the counter to sit beside her in one of the stools. Her thin brows suddenly pushed downwards, her hand reaching out to side-sweep the younger girl's bangs. "Why? What's wrong?"

Tenshi glanced down, but then looked up again quickly. Hana tenderly touched the side of her face. "Oh, honey. Why did you run away?"

She swallowed, hands shaky. She proceeded to tell Hana about how she had a "slightly difficult" childhood and grew up without a father. She left out the prostituting stage of her life and got off with a lie about having to live with one of her aunts after the death of her mother, and then moving in with a friend when she was older. Her stomach felt queasy telling her that she'd met Naruto while they were both waiting for a dentist appointment and after an hour and a half of sitting, he'd approached her and asked for her number. Obviously, Kiba had failed to mention any of her past because Hana believed every word with a nod or a smile.

"We're just…taking a break from each other," she continued, wishing she another bowl of rice balls.

"But why? I mean, Naruto is such a nice boy. Did you two have an argument?"

"Ano…sort of." She sat back and took another sip of water to cool her burning throat.

Hana sighed. "You gotta talk those sorts of things out, honey. Running never does any good! Trust me, my tou-san tried to run away from my kaa-san, but she always reeled him right back in." She put a finger to her chin. "That poor man."

Tenshi smiled, but it quickly dissolved into a look of worry, her eyelids lowering. What was she to say when she saw him again? How does anyone deal with that kind of confrontation? Did he even know that she had seen him and that pink-headed demon together? If not, how in the world was she supposed to bring it up? Her head pounded, matching the frantic rhythm of her weak heart as she passed bad scenario after bad scenario in her mind of what would happen the moment she laid eyes on Naruto again. _Worst thing: I kill him, _she thought as Akiku made his way over to the stool she was sitting on and began to meow.

Hana frowned. "Such a cute cat," she said blandly.

"Do you not like cats?"

"They're okay, I guess. I can barely _stand_ Akamaru."

Tenshi got out of her seat and bent down to pick him up. "I love animals."

"Yeah?" Hana got on her feet and stretched, catching Tenshi has she tried to hide a yawn. "You tired?"

She cursed inwardly as a blush crept onto her cheeks. "A little. Actually I haven't slept in while."

"Where did you stay last night?"

More heat clawed its way to her face. "A hotel."

Hana whistled low. "Well, c'mon. You can sleep in one of the spare rooms and we'll talk more about your love life later."

She giggled. "Alright."

They exited the kitchen and walked upstairs, side-by-side, Tenshi holding her meowing kitten against her chest. Hana led her into the hall and walked all the way to the end of it where a guest bedroom was waiting. Tenshi smiled when she walked into it, taking in the spacious bed with white cotton covers and fluffy pillows. She went on in and collapsed into the sheets, the smell of orange blossoms filling her nostrils. Hana made her way to a dresser-drawer and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and also underwear. She put it on the bed next to Tenshi's head.

"You can shower and change whenever you want. If you need anything at all, I'll be right downstairs, okay?"

Against her will, Tenshi felt her eyes water. She took a deep breath and leapt off the bed, throwing her arms around Kiba's sister as tight as she could. Hana stumbled back, but hugged her close. "Thank you," Tenshi whispered, her tears falling.

Hana chuckled softly. "When you asked me about love… Why don't you believe in it?"

Tenshi leaned back slightly.

"_Kanae, you've ruined everything." _

"_I know the impression your father must've given, but he really is a wonderful man."_

"_It only beats for Hiashi. When he's not around, her heart is just dead fucking weight in her chest." _

"_You can call me Orochimaru, Tenshi." _

She looked up at Hana as the tears slipped down her face, pooling under chin. "I never said I didn't believe in love," she muttered. Images of Sasuke's hands fluttering over her collarbone flashed through her mind, followed by the face of the old woman as she scraped the unborn child from her womb, Orochimaru's eyes as they lingered over her naked eleven-year-old body, Sakura's lips as they twisted into a not-smile. And then Naruto's heart as it beat steady and strong against her ear when she lay against him in bed.

Her hands fell to her sides. "I just don't think love believes in me."

* * *

**Another chapter finished, yay! Can you guys believe that summer is almost OVER? I've literally been freaking out. I mean, I haven't done any of my work yet and I so need to get on it. But once again, FanFiction has utterly distracted me from my responsibilities as a human being. **

**Yeah. So, here we go: **

**4master: **Yikes! I was never planning on putting Kiba into the love square, so trust me; absolutely no worries on that one.

**CharNinja LOL: **Things get worse before they get better.

**SpeeDemon: **You mean like Kurenai and stuff? Well, it was only necessary to introduce her. It was time for her to come back. Do you think I'm just running things too fast or…?

**TalentSampler: **DELETE? Girl, I'd rather die.

**Kataangforever2: **I'm so there. But we gotta have a honeymoon! Now, Tenshi can love and yes, I would say her need to be loved is more powerful as you read in this chapter. But, yeah, I'm updating as fast as I can!

**NaruHina-love-Cookies123: **Hmm…not gonna tell ya!

**Baka1Chan: **I'm not telling!

**imatwilightfan: **No, I don't mind. I think more people were interested in that too. I changed the name because the first title, _Forgiving Sin, Regaining Love, _was just an overall aspect of what the story was about. But as I started writing more I came up with the new title, _Gilded Butterflies, _because it's a deeper, more emotional meaning to the story. I can't say why yet, but once you see it in the future chapters you're gonna be like, "Ah! That's why." So, yeah.

**I think everyone also needs to be comforted with the fact that yes; this will have a happy ending. I promise. Thanks for reading and please review for the next chapter! **


	17. 16: Hands Up

**Tik Tok **by **Ke$ha**

* * *

_You build me up, you break me down,  
My heart, it pounds, yeah, you got me. _

**.16.  
with my hands up**

Sasuke jerked Karin's panties from her narrow hips, balling them in his hand and then tossing them over his shoulder. She giggled from underneath him and closed her eyes, raising her arms to wrap them around his neck and pull him close. He was _still_ livid, still downright pissed about everything that had occurred. He hadn't spoken to Naruto and something deep inside of him screamed that everything was his fault.

He hated it.

The sun was peeking in through his drawn shades, casting rays of yellow over his face and eyes, making his pale skin glow and black irises ignite. It washed over Karin's hair and that horrid red nearly blinded him. It was already July and the summer heat was scorching, and with the new month brought along one of his least favorite events.

His birthday was coming up.

"Sasuke," Karin moaned into his ear, long, lean legs going around his waist. "What?" he said harshly, hands on her hips, digging into her skin. She hissed as he entered her roughly, taking his anger out on her body.

"I love you," she muttered.

Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand, watching her eyes widen, and continued to plummet into her. "Shut up," he said.

Behind them, the television was on, broadcasting the search of three missing little girls.

* * *

Gaara filled his suitcase with all the necessities as Sari chewed on a piece of gum while sitting on the couch, watching television. He had a nice house in Kumejima and he figured he could hide out there for a few months until this whole _situation_ blew over. He had plenty of money and not a lot of friends.

The plan was perfect, full-proof.

"Sari," he called in his raspy voice. "Are you going to get ready?"

"One sec, Gaara-kun," she called, engrossed in whatever she was watching. He took a breath and zipped the suitcase, putting it beside three larger ones that were already packed and ready to go. All Sari had to do was finish putting all the new underwear, hair accessories, and other female things he'd bought for her in a duffle bag. They would be better off in Kumejima. Sari could escape from the joint she'd been working at and he could finally take a vacation to sort out his life.

Sari had said her name was Tenshi.

"_Your name. What is it?" _

"_I-I'm not supposed to say." _

He never wanted to see her again.

"Sari, that's enough. Come get ready. Now."

"Fine," she said and popped her gum, getting to her feet and heading to one of the back rooms. He looked to the television to see what she had been watching and saw a female reporter talking about children. One of their faces passed across the screen; a young girl with long blonde hair and green eyes.

The reporter made a grim face. _"You've just seen Nakajima Riku, one of the three young girls who were kidnapped and have been missing for over a month—" _

He turned the TV off.

* * *

Sakura hadn't slept since the night with Naruto. She stood in her bathroom with one of Sai's wrinkled shirts on her thin body, and stared in the mirror. Her dyed pink hair needed to be re-colored again and there were thin, dark bags under her eyes. She turned the faucet on and splashed some cool water on her face, looking to her reflection once more to watch the clear droplets cling to her long eyelashes and drip pass her lips.

She switched the water off and sighed, using a blue towel to wipe her wet face. She felt sick, depressed, _lonely_. She was confused. How does someone perfect—and she was _perfect_—lose to a girl like Tenshi?

Sure, she was pretty and had eyes like the light of everything innocent, but Sakura was sure she was hiding something. She seemed off; questionable, and Naruto was falling right into her little trap.

Sakura glared into the mirror and left the bathroom, walking into her bedroom to turn the television on and try to relax. She loved Sai, she really did, but it was her mind that loved him. Her heart was for Sasuke and her body missed Naruto.

She crashed onto the bed, legs crossed at the ankles and hair pulled up into a messy bun. The news was on, going in one ear and out the other until she looked to her left and a covered easel caught her eye. She quirked her mouth and sat up on the bed, staring at it. Sai usually never left his work at her house or his; it was always kept in a studio he'd bought in downtown Tokyo. She stood up and walked over to the easel, tracing her fingers across the white sheet covering the picture. What great masterpiece had he created this time?

Sakura bit her lip. She touched the edge of the sheet and flipped it up, catching the sight of long brown hair before a hand came down on top of hers.

"Are you peeking?" Sai smirked. His hair was wet and there was towel around his waist.

She smiled—bright, beautiful, and fake. "Why were you showering downstairs?" She went to lie back on the bed.

He shrugged and fixed the sheet over the easel. "It's bigger and the water sprays hotter."

"Hai," she mumbled.

He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to kiss her, head turning slightly to look back at the TV, at the news. "What are you watching?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head. "It's those missing girls. Nobody has found them yet." Sai's eyes narrowed. "That's depressing. Turn it off."

"'Kay." She went to the fashion and style network.

* * *

Tenshi rolled over in the bed wither her face in the pillow and groaned. Her eyebrows furrowed as she reached out a hand to grab for the covers. "Naruto," she mumbled, her fingers searching for his skin, for warmth. When she felt nothing, she sat up abruptly and looked around. It took her a minute to realize where she was, but she soon calmed, combing her hair with her fingers.

She sighed, biting her lip, and then got out of bed to wander the halls, leaving Akiku sleeping soundly. Her body ached for some strange reason as her legs moved one in front of the other.

"Tenshi," someone said.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Hana smiling. "Hey, girl. Did you sleep well last night?"

"More or less."

She smirked. "You should've. That's the bed Naruto sleeps in when he stays with Kiba."

_That explains this morning… _"You don't say." Tenshi pulled her ponytail holder off her wrist and bundled her hair on top of her head messily. Hana winked. "That's a good look for ya."

"What do you mean?"

"You look…natural. Not so tense anymore."

Tenshi blushed a little and ran a hand through her bangs as Hana turned on her heel and prepared to go down the stairs. She stood at the top of the staircase for a few seconds before she groaned internally and quickly made her way after Hana. Downstairs, Kiba and another man were watching an intense game of association football. Tenshi watched for a moment as two men competed to gain possession of the ball, their feet tangling in each others before one of them finally kicked it to the other side of the field.

"Aw, shit! _Booyah_!" Kiba yelled, jumping up from the couch and clapping his hands in the air. She smiled and then caught sight of the man sitting beside him, her heart hammering and sinking at the same time when she saw blonde hair. Her breath hitched, bare feet preparing to retreat to safety back up the stairs until she heard him speak. "Shut the hell up, Kiba." His voice was rough, deeper.

Not Naruto.

A small whimper or something of the likeness must've come out of her mouth because both Kiba and the man turned to look at her with their eyebrows pulled up. "Oh, Tenshi," Kiba said. "I guess you slept pretty good, huh?"

She blinked. "W-What makes you say that?"

He smirked and walked around the couch to stand in front of her. "You've been sleep for like, fifteen hours."

Tenshi's mouth parted as she realized the bright sun bleeding in through the windows. It appeared to be mid-morning and she had arrived at Hana's home the day before around ten o' clock. She _had_ been asleep a long time.

"Ah," she mumbled.

Kiba nodded, noticing the dark bags under her pale eyes and the sickly color of her fair skin. He reached out to squeeze her forearm in a comforting manner. "You okay?" She seemed to skitter, but composed herself. "I'm fine. I'm fine, thanks." She smiled to reassure him and then watched the blonde man approach them with a grin. He was handsome; dark gold hair and eyes like copper pennies. Kiba slapped his shoulder. "Tenshi, this is Hana's husband, Haru."

_Hana and Haru. _She smiled, slightly tipping her head. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." He returned the kind gesture and then reached for her hand. His grip was firm and warm like his wife's and Kiba's. The touch was reassuring and made her feel safe.

_I like these people. _

Tenshi finally felt herself relax and then heard Hana call her from the kitchen. She smiled and excused herself from the two gentlemen, giggling as they immediately returned to their debate about the sports game occurring on the television.

Hana grinned when she saw her and placed a hand on the back of her neck. "You want anything to eat?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

"You sure, honey? How about some tea?"

Tenshi licked her lips and nodded. Hana sat her down and fixed her a steaming cup, placing it in front of her on the counter. She wrapped her hands around the top of it and let the heat soak into her cold skin before she finally took a sip. Her mind was still a little jumbled, but she was feeling a bit better. A long, shaky breath came out of her mouth. Hana scratched the back of her head. "You okay, honey?"

"Fine," she mumbled. _I'm fine. I'm always fine._

"Good, 'cause I have something waiting outside for you."

"What…is it?"

"Don't ask me! Go on out there and see for yourself."

Tenshi gulped down the rest of her tea before she got out of her seat and made her way to the backdoor of the kitchen. She gingerly touched the door knob and tossed an uneasy glance back at Hana, who just used a hand to wave her forward. She looked away from her and then back at the door before she wrenched it open, only to have Kiba's cute dog bolt in and run between her legs. Her heart thudded, her hand going to her chest. _What the—? _

"Hana! I thought you said Akamaru _wouldn't_ struggle with the bath—! Oh. Tenshi…"

Tenshi's head whirled around as the tip of her nose came into contact with Naruto's soaking wet T-shirt. She panicked internally, quickly skidding back behind the counter and in the process, knocking over the ceramic cup that once held her green tea. It fell to the floor and shattered, sending a prickling sensation up her spine. Her face reddened in utter embarrassment, fingers clenching in the too-big shirt she wore to stop her hands from flailing around.

Hana rushed to her and put her arm around her shoulder. "Honey, are you alright? Everything's okay…"

Tenshi gently pried the older woman's skin from hers and didn't dare turn to see the expression on Naruto's face. She bit her lip, tears flooding the bottoms of her eyes. Someone coughed and she saw Haru and Kiba awkwardly standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Idiots!" Hana shouted. They both jumped and raced to get back into the living room. Hana kissed Tenshi's temple, her lips moving to her ear. "Just talk to him," she whispered. "I'll leave you guys to it." She followed her husband and brother.

Naruto swiped the back of his hand across his brow, nervously quirking his lips to the side. He opened his mouth to speak when she turned her head and darted out of the kitchen. "Tenshi!" he said and ran after her, watching her fleet up the stairs. He stopped a moment to see Kiba, Haru, and Hana all staring at him with the same upset, torn looks on their faces. "I'll fix this," he promised, treading after Tenshi.

He briskly walked down the hall until he was standing in front of the guest room. He knocked twice and the feeling was not a good one. "Tenshi," he said. "Will you talk to me? Please?"

Nothing.

Sighing, he went ahead and opened the door, surprised to see Tenshi changing into the summer dress she'd left the house with. She was in a cotton bra and panties, slipping the dress over her head. When she spotted him, her tongue moved around in her mouth to protrude against her cheek.

"Can we talk?" he asked, stepping in and closing the door.

"We have nothing to talk about." She took Akiku from the bed and set him on the floor to that she could make the sheets up.

"I know you saw what happened—"

"How did you even get over here?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes and took the elastic band from her hair. "You don't…have a car."

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well. Kiba picked me up. I've been over here since eight this morning, waiting for you to wake up. I couldn't just sit knowing you were upstairs so I gave Akamaru a bath."

"Did Kiba call you?"

"No. Hana did."

_Fucking shit, _she thought, glaring at him. Her hands itched to reach out, hold him against him her, kiss his lips, but she was fucking _pissed_.

Naruto looked down and then back up again. "I didn't know she was going to come over or anything, I swear."

Tenshi began to cry, constantly wiping the tears as they fell. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want your excuses."

"It's not an excuse; it's the damn truth!"

"I saw you kiss her!"

"She kissed me!"

"Don't you give me that _bullshit_!" Her legs shook. "I asked you," she said, voice frail and cracking. "I asked you if you were the type t-to get revenge…and y-y-you said no." She was a wreck now, sitting herself on the bed and burying her head into her lap. Her shoulders shook, chest heaved as she sobbed and contemplated why she was so _unlucky_. A few seconds passed before she felt warm arms encircle her. Her first initiative was to retreat once more, not give into his touch.

_But this is Naruto. _And she was, admittedly, weak.

However, instead of crying into his already wet shirt, she let him hold her and looked into his blue eyes. He gave her a small smile before biting his lip. "I love you."

Her hands moved up in front of his face, signaling that she didn't want to hear it. He frowned, brows scrunching inwards in distress. "Tenshi, please, listen to me," he begged.

"I did listen to you," she muttered, breath coming in short rasps because of her quiet crying, "and I g-got bit in the ass because of it." Her cheeks reddened. She didn't care anymore. Her whole life, she had been left to fend for herself, abandoned to sedate an appetite of lust, and then sold for another's greed. When would the cycle end? When would she be happy?

"_It's too late for us." _Tenshi's hands quivered. _Oh, God, Sasuke. I hope you're wrong. _

Naruto listened to her sniffling. "Will you just let me explain?"

She looked up at him, her face pink and her expression _expressionless_. "Go ahead," she dared.

He frowned slightly, but explained to her the exact events of what had occurred. How Sakura had come over a few minutes after she left, crying and asking to use the bathroom, how he'd followed her to make sure she was okay, how she gave him the "I miss you" pity speech, how she'd played him like a toy drum, and then the kiss.

Tenshi wasn't pleased. "You shouldn't have even let her in the house."

"What was I supposed to do, huh? Close the door in her face and let her cry?"

"I don't give a fuck about her crying!"

"She's my friend."

She snorted. "You don't have a lot of good friends. Well, at least two rotten ones."

He ran a hand through his hair and turned his gaze elsewhere. "I know I'm going to forgive Sasuke soon. And you should too."

"It's…not that simple."

"Why not? We're humans; we make mistakes and then we forgive each other."

"Some things are unforgiveable, Naruto." _Not everyone is a good person. _

His eyes narrowed. "So now I'm the bad guy," he said, standing up and taking off his wet shirt. She didn't even attempt to take a glance at him as he dug around in the side table drawer next to her to pull out a clean, gray T-shirt. "Aren't I?"

"I don't want to talk to you," she said.

"_Fuck_, Tenshi, you act like you've never done anything wrong," he growled, his body heat rising, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He wanted to get through to her, tear down those marble walls she'd built around her heart. "At least my ordeal was an accident. At least I wasn't trying to _deliberately_ hurt you." Tenshi flinched at his tone, but kept her cool demeanor. She, after all, could be mean too. "Did you ever think that maybe the reason I do those things is because I don't give two shits about you?" she asked, one of her brows raised. Naruto's mouth dropped open slightly. "I know that's bullshit."

"Do you?"

"I saw your face when I came through the door, alright? Looks like that don't come from people who don't care. You may not love me, but I _know_ you care."

"You're naïve."

"And you're bitter."

She swallowed. Akiku put his head on her bare feet. "I'm not _bitter_," she defended.

"The hell you aren't. You hate Sakura because you think she might be better than you, you're mad at me 'cause things for once didn't go away and you're scared of your feelings, and you fucked Sasuke for reasons I'm barely even sure about. For what? To just hurt me? To hurt him?" He sat back down on the bed and stared at her with true curiosity. "Why? I mean, he didn't know about the abortion. You said so your—"

"Sasuke _did_ know about the abortion." She figured it was as good a time as any. Maybe he wouldn't want her afterwards.

"What?"

"He watched it. My pimp held me down while a woman scraped the baby out of me with a hanger. They had him tied up with a gag in his mouth and made him watch." Her shoulders, surprisingly, felt lighter.

Naruto looked away for a moment. He was confused. He _knew_ Sasuke; they were best friends. "B-But it's not like he didn't try to stop it, Tenshi. He couldn't if he was tied up."

"That's not the point!" she exploded, standing up, fists clenched and tears back in her eyes. "He wasn't there for me _afterwards_! He left town and I didn't see him again until he showed up at your house! That's _two years_!" Naruto reached for her balled hands, but she hurried away and threaded her fingers through her hair. "I can't do this anymore," she said after a moment.

He flicked the tip of his nose with the knuckle of his index finger and sniffed. "Do what?"

Her bottom lip quivered. He wanted to kiss her. "Whatever the fuck _this_ is."

"So that's it? You want me to drive you back to Red Heart so you can continue to prostitute? You want me to just forget everything—forget _you_—and pretend this never happened?" He stood, walking to her, watching her eyes dart around the room. She took her hands from her head and braced them at his stomach as he came to stand in front of her, head tilted, eyes glossed. "Is that what you want, Tenshi?" She licked her lips and gently pushed her thumbs into his clothed skin. "No," she said, moving him out of the way and picking Akiku up. "I want you to take me home."

And that's what they did, not another word spoken to the other.

* * *

When Tenshi walked through the front door, the first thing she noticed was the fist-sized dent in the wall. Absently, she looked back at Naruto, but didn't say anything.

He was happy to have both his car and wallet back, however, and began to look through the latter as she placed Akiku on the floor and made her way to the kitchen. He opened a flap of the shiny black leather and frowned. "In my wallet—there's money missing."

The sound of cereal being poured was heard. "You should check your credit card balance."

"Fuck," he muttered and retreated upstairs.

Tenshi tossed her hair back as she watched him go and then began to eat her cereal. The bites were slow, hesitant, and she only took four of them before she dumped it. "Shower," she said to herself, self-consciously swiping her hands against her dress and then deciding that she would have to go upstairs as well. She didn't say anything to Naruto as he lay on the bed and flipped through television stations. She was all calm and nonchalant until a twinkle of gold caught her eye on the bedside table.

"Ai!" she exclaimed, a little too loud for her taste, but found herself rushing over to the fish bowl and instinctively pressing her lips against the glass, smiling as Ai did the same.

"Where has she been?"

It took Naruto a moment to realize she was speaking to him. "Oh, um, at the beach house. I had to wait a few days to get her 'cause I couldn't bring everything at once. I found some more of your clothes too."

She glanced at him, still smiling, but then it slipped. He looked away. She blinked a few times and gently tapped the bowl once. "A fish named after love," she whispered. Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Ironic, isn't it."

Tenshi swallowed.

"All of this is just bullshit to you, right?" he asked. "You can't take anything seriously. You don't give two shits about me, huh?"

She put her fingers through the ends of her hair and sat on the bed, solemn. He sat up and waited for her to say something. "I care," she mumbled, voice broken.

"About?" He _needed_ clarification.

She finally looked into his eyes, and there were tears in hers. "Everything."

He reddened. "Tenshi…"

"I have to take a shower." Quickly, she put herself together and moved passed him into the bathroom.

He fell back onto the pillows of the bed and put his arm over his tired eyes."Thanks, Ai," he said to the kissing fish.

* * *

**Wow, it's been awhile. And I promise that's only because of school and I might've had a smidge of writer's block. I wrote that Hinata/Naruto scene over twice, it was really hard to do. But, thanks for reading and sticking to this. **

**God knows I wouldn't have enough courage or will to keep going if you guys didn't support me like you do! So, here we go: **

**Baka1Chan: **Yes.

**imatwighlighfan: **You are so right, babe!

**Kataangforever2: **Oh, how I love, love, love you. But I'm not telling you anything!

**Akakoken: **Thanks so much. You didn't have a question, but I really wanted to say thank you.

**Tanni8kya HeHe: **Um, okay. Hope you liked this chapter so I enjoy living.

**Junky: **I'll be better, I promise. School was fucking me in the ass.

**That was all your questions, guys! Please feel free to leave me a review! **


	18. 17: Even Without Wings

**End of the Dream **by** Evanescence**

* * *

_As much as it hurts  
__Ain't it wonderful to feel?_

**.17.  
****even without wings**

She found that showers were her therapy.

In them, she could have half an hour to herself—with only herself—and no other intrusion from the outside world. Living with Orochimaru and the girls in Red Heart had been entirely different. There was never a moment of solitude, privacy, or quiet when one was confined to a house full of crazy females. As for life with her former captor, she no longer feared the pair of yellow eyes that would sometimes watch her bathe from the crack of an open door.

Tenshi, overall, was content in those thirty minutes of hot water hitting her moon glossed skin and dousing her thick hair soothingly against her back. She reached behind her to retrieve a bottle of liquid soap and squirted a large amount of it atop her head. It fell in glops down her chest and stomach until she rubbed it in with pruning hands. The soap was soft against her skin, but after a moment of she found herself roughly scraping her flesh with her fingernails and immediately dropped her hands to her sides.

Flashbacks of Nartuo's bleeding face as she tore through the flesh of his cheeks with her nails stretched across the surface of mind. She stumbled on her feet, holding the sides of her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

The images blinked by like a slideshow; her father walking out, Okaa-san dying, Orochimaru, Sasuke, Red Heart, Naruto, and even Sakura's pretty face wedged itself in her dreams and nightmares.

She let out a small whine and inched down the shower wall until her bottom it the crème-tiled floor. Moaning, she brought her legs to her chest and crossed her ankles tight against her body.

It was then that another visual darted by, but it was someone she hadn't thought of in a long time. Gaara's red hair and cyan eyes appeared before quickly vanishing. She'd taped his ripped picture together and hidden it in a drawer filled with her clothes, but only that and her fifteen-year-old memory of him were keeping him alive. She put her arms around her trembling shoulders, bracing her fingers against herself and biting her lip to keep her teeth from chattering.

Why was it suddenly freezing?

Glancing towards the shower head, she raised herself up and cut the water off, stopping the drizzle and therefore stopping the chill. "How long…?" she muttered to herself. _How long have I been in here?_ Surely it had been more than a half-hour. She swallowed, bringing her hair around her shoulder to squeeze the excess water out, before sliding the shower door open and stepping on the floor. She grabbed the towel hung up one of the hooks and wrapped it around herself, passing the mirror and catching her foggy reflection. Something made her stop in that moment; something in the way the mist played over her shadow in the glass caused her heart to stutter.

On her tiptoes, Tenshi went to stand in front of the mirror, swiping her hand over the steam until she could see herself clearly. She was mostly the same, but still somehow different. There was a pretty pink flush to her face, color in the rest of her pale skin, and life in her eyes. That's what it was; the twinkle in her father's gray eyes. It mesmerized her because it was the first time she had seen herself look so…alive. She covered her face with her arms, suddenly seeing Hiashi, and turned on her heel to look into the full body mirror behind her. Breathing deeply, she dropped the towel from her lithe form and saw the difference in her body.

Where once areas had been too thin for her liking were now filling out quite nicely. She could no longer see her ribs protruding. Instead, there was a thick layer of flesh keeping her bones from poking out. She turned to the side and smiled in the mirror. Her hips were rounding out, her stomach still attractively flat, leading all the way up to her full chest and elegant shoulders. She insecurely made a motion of her hands over her bust, seeing that it was the only thing that hadn't changed.

_Naruto likes them. _She rolled her eyes at the thought. _Naruto likes everything about me. _

Tenshi chewed her lower lip at the reminder of him. They hadn't spoken since the afternoon they'd returned home and that had been a whole day ago. She'd avoided him with showers and one long night of television on the couch, but she figured it was high time for them to exchange a few words.

She picked up her towel and headed into one of the guest rooms where she dried off and got dressed. With wet hair—as she still had no possession of a blow-dryer—Tenshi trotted down stairs and walked into the kitchen, fixing herself a glass of water.

"We need to talk."

Speak of the devil. She sputtered a bit on the liquid, surprised by the raspy voice that Naruto usually didn't bare. A shiver ran its way down the length of her back and over her arms, awaking gooseflesh and a rapid heartbeat.

Tenshi turned and braced herself against the kitchen counter, meeting eye-to-eye with him and losing her voice. There was darkness under his usually bright eyes from lack of sleep, and his brows were pulled up to a high point on his forehead in anxiety. Tenshi's hands itched to reach out and grab him, but it wasn't necessary.

Naruto took four long, powerful strides towards her, engulfing her in a tight, desperate embrace and smashing their lips together. Tenshi whined into his mouth, her arms moving up his chest to wrap around his neck. She pressed herself to him as close as gravity would allow, sighing in contentment when his hands wandered down her sides and gave her bottom a firm squeeze. He broke their kiss for a moment to slide his lips down the column of her smooth throat, his fingers moving back around towards her front to fiddle with the button of her shorts. She raked her nails across his scalp, making him groan, before burying her hands in his golden tendrils and yanking his lips from her neck.

Her breathing was chaotic, her chest sore with the hammering of her heart. "This…isn't talking," she whispered.

"Sorry," Naruto responded and zipped her shorts back up.

Her face flushed. "It's not that I-I don't _want_ to. But I think it's more important if we—"

"Talk, yes. I got 'cha." He gave her one of his silly grins and her stomach flipped. How long had it been since he'd smiled like that? How long had it been since he'd touched her?

Naruto picked her up and placed her on the counter, settling himself between her legs with his arms on either side of her. "I'm ready when you are."

"I shouldn't have stolen your car or your wallet," she blurted loudly. "I shouldn't have run away. I should've been nicer to Sakura, I should've listened to you, and I should've—"

"Tenshi, it's okay—"

"But it's _not_ okay!" Her mouth snapped shut, surprised by her own reaction. Naruto attempted to search her eyes, leaning in closer with every second that passed. She looked up to the ceiling, her eyes filling with tears. He waited, his insides clenching when she tossed her head back down and let out a shaky whimper. "I'm s-sorry," she muttered. Naruto shook his head. "What are you sorry for? For crying? For being upset?"

She made a half-hearted effort to wipe her tears away. "I don't know. I d-don't know."

He grabbed both sides of her face, feeling the silky strands of her hair against his skin. Smiling gently, he brushed his mouth against hers and whispered, "Don't ever be afraid to feel. It's human; it's _beautiful_."

And she was beautiful. He understood that now. It wasn't her dark hair and electric eyes that made his pulse quicken. It was those short moments when he saw that raw emotion play over her features; when she was real and bare, walls down and her soul wide open for him to examine. That's what made her beautiful. That's what he loved. He told her so and watched with glee as red heat crawled up her skin and splashed the apples of her cheeks. He kissed her again, holding the back of her head and stroking the underside of her jaw. She was warm, soft, and woman, assaulting every single one of senses until he was drowning in her.

Tenshi pulled back, her lips in a small smile and her eyes cast down. She raised her hands to grasp the fabric of his shirt and wrapped her legs around his waist. He rubbed the tops of her thighs in soothing circles as she whispered, "Why do you say things like that? I mean, how do you come up with it?"

He chuckled softly. "I'm not coming up with anything. It's just the truth."

She blinked. _It's the truth. _

If that was the case, she had some things to say too. But how was she to tell him that he meant everything to her? What words could describe the overwhelming sensation of his body at night, or the way he smiled when he was happy? There was nothing she could say because she didn't know how to say it.

"I've never been too good at the truth," she told him.

He shook his head. "Well, it's never too late, right?"

Once again, she heard Sasuke's voice in the back of her head. _"It's too late for us." _

No, it wasn't. It couldn't be.

_Maybe it's too late for you, Sasuke. But I can't give up. Not yet. _

Tenshi pressed her lips together and slid down from the counter, her body slipping past Naruto's in the most intimate way imaginable. She felt every muscle in him twitch against her and it made her legs turn to jelly. Almost as if on instinct, his arms went out to steady her, causing her face to bloom nearly purple in embarrassment.

She shook, full of something she couldn't explain, and he noticed instantly. "What's wrong?"

Her thoughts were running together and her body was getting too hot. Every time she made eye contact with his brilliant blue irises, tremors licked at the base of her skull and made her head pound. She fisted the hem of his shirt in her hands. "Nothing." She made move to ease herself out of his embrace, but his grip tightened on her hips.

"You're not gonna run back in the shower, are you?"

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Y-You've noticed that?"

He kissed her forehead. "You took three yesterday and two this morning."

She tinted pink. "Oh."

"Why are you in there so much?"

She shrugged gently. "I'm not sure. I just like it. It's sort of…therapeutic."

Naruto's brow pinched. "Really?"

"Hmm."

He backed away from her a bit and took her hand, leading her into the living room and sitting her on the couch. She was apprehensive at first, unsure about what was going on, but he placed his palm against her cheek and her heart fluttered. "Listen," he said. She met eyes with him as he continued, "I'm gonna give someone a call, okay?"

"I—who?"

"A friend of mine. He's a therapist."

Tenshi stood from her spot, a bit outraged, her neck and clavicle reddening considerably.

"Are you crazy, Naruto?"

"He's a doctor; he could help you."

"I don't _need_ any help."

"C'mon, Tenshi, just give him a chance. For me, please?"

She rolled her eyes and collapsed back to the sofa, arms crossed and muscles tight. Naruto took his phone from his pocket and sighed. "You'll thank me, you big baby." She blushed. "I-I am _not_."

"Sure."

A pillow suddenly connected with the side of his head. "Ow! Tenshi!"

"Just _call_ already!"

He took a breath and then dialed in the appropriate number, his teeth on edge until the man he hadn't talked to in two and a half years answered on the seventh ring. _"Moshi-moshi." _

"Kakashi. How are you?"

There was a profound, yet comforting silence. Naruto heard the older man clear his throat before breathing deeply. _"Naruto,"_ was all he said.

"Yeah. It's me."

"_I take it you're well?" _

His eyes instantly wandered to Tenshi. "I've never been better." She looked up from her spot on the couch and found her skin dying cherry when she met his intense stare. Those cerulean eyes burned holes right through her very being. Putting some hair behind the shell of her ear, she glanced back down and crossed her legs.

"_What can I do for you?"_ Kakashi asked over the phone.

"I have a potential patient for you." He heard Tenshi groan.

Hatake Kakashi carried a thin trace of humor in his voice. _"Oh, is that so? Male or female?"_

"Female; a beautiful girl, if I may add."

"_You may,"_ he chuckled softly.

Naruto moved to sit next to Tenshi on the couch and reached over to pat her knee. He gave her wink before returning back to the man on the phone. "Do you think she could come in soon to talk with you? I know—I'm sure—it would really help her a lot."

"_Of course,"_ Kakashi said. "Bring her in tomorrow morning around ten."

"Thank you—"

"_And Naruto?" _

He paused a moment and bit his lip. "Yeah?"

Kakashi sighed. _"Have you been doing alright? You are fine, aren't you?"_

Tenshi frowned at the look of concentration on his face as he responded, "Trust me on this one; things are finally starting to come together." The two bid their goodbyes and Naruto was left feeling good about what he had done for Tenshi. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the small smile on his face and the way his eyes glossed over. One of her hands touched the front of his shirt, gaining his attention, and her mouth opened and closed before she found the right words to say. "How…did it go?" He grasped her hand and pulled her closer to him. "We'll see him in the morning."

"Okay. But, Naruto?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

She looked down and licked her lips. The question had been plaguing her since she'd seen him barreling his way through the Acid club where he had come to save her; where he had come back for her. She hadn't understood why he did the things he did until the moment she saw the look in his eyes, the desperation as their skin met, and the fire in his voice when he yelled at her for leaving. Everything clicked into place and she felt herself melt.

"What's it like to be in love?"

Naruto blinked in surprise, his grip loosening on her a bit. He laughed a little and tilted his head, tugging a hand through his hair. "It's…_hard_," he answered after a moment and she nodded in understanding. He rubbed a circle into her wrist. "But it's all worth it. Love just feels good and I've never regretted it. Ever."

She frowned. "Even with Sakura?"

He kissed her the knuckle of her pinky finger. "Even with Sakura." She looked away for a moment and ran her hands up her arms. She supposed that was a good thing; Naruto didn't have regrets when it came to love.

So she wouldn't either.

* * *

Upon arriving to the medical center where Hatake Kakashi worked as a psychiatrist, Tenshi felt nausea blossom into the core of her aching belly and thought, for a moment, that she would vomit up all of her sins.

Knowing she was about to have to profess her deepest thoughts and feelings to a complete stranger terrified her.

Naruto held her hand as they walked through the revolving doors, his lips pressed tightly together. She kept herself close to him; the coolness of his palm soothed her, but a nervous itch founds its way to the back of her head and wouldn't go away. The tapping of her sandals against the smooth floor reverberated through her frontal lobe and around her ears. She memorized her every step, every breath, every blink, and every twinge of Naruto's fingers against her hand. This meeting with Dr. Hatake would be everything critical to the survival of their relationship. Her mind would be prodded, she knew that much, but she would pour everything she had to this man if it meant keeping Naruto.

As they reached the elevator, she thought about his words and felt her heart beat faster. _"Love just feels good…" _

Her hand loosened around his before tightening again, and a strange fluttering feeling crawled through her skin and made her knees weak.

Naruto said something, but she didn't quite catch it. "W-What?" she muttered, her tongue like sandpaper.

He looked down at her and smiled. "I said he's on the seventh floor. Are you feeling…okay?"

Tenshi's breathing sputtered a bit. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't be nervous. He's a really good doctor. He helped me through one of the hardest times in my life."

She blinked. "What was that?"

"My parents died when I was fifteen. I took it really hard. For a long time I just wanted to die."

Instantly, she felt tears prick the backs of her eyes, but it wasn't entirely for his lost family. She realized, at that moment, that she knew absolutely nothing about him. "Who…helped you through it?" she asked.

"Sakura, actually. That was when I started falling in love with her."

Tenshi licked her bottom lip. "You'll always love her, won't you?"

The elevator door opened and they stepped out onto the seventh floor. He wound a piece of her hair around his finger and grabbed her chin, gently forcing their mouths together in a quiet kiss. Neither one allowed their eyes to close.

"Yes, but it's not the kind of love like—" he paused. _Like I have with you. _"It's not _that_ kind of love."

She brushed her fingers across the span of his throat. "Then what kind of love is it?"

He smiled slightly. "It's love like friends have, sort of. She was a very important aspect of my life so a piece of me will always care about her."

Tenshi glowered, but it was so subtle Naruto didn't notice. _You're mistaken, _she voiced internally, _because I don't want pieces of you. I want all of you, every last, little bit. I— _

"Tenshi," he said, interrupting her train of thought, "you have nothing to worry about with Sakura, I swear."

No flashes of anger stormed her face, nor did she bark out a rude comment about said girl. She only crossed her arms over her chest and said, very softy, "I know."

Just then, door number 342 opened and a man with messy silver hair and a cloth over the bottom half of his face peered out at them. Tenshi frowned in confusion, self-consciously stepping behind Naruto. She could tell he was smiling by the crinkling of one of his eyes. The other, the left one, was covered by a rather comical eye patch. He walked out fully, bearing weathered jeans and a scuffed, dark green T-shirt. Tenshi pinched Naruto's ribs. "Is he the doctor?" she whispered.

He chuckled at her question and left her side to envelop the strange man in a friendly hug. "Naruto," he said. "You're looking well."

"You too, Kakashi," Naruto responded. An unspoken, yet well-rehearsed conversation passed through both their eyes. Kakashi was, indeed, a life saver and he would do Tenshi well. Naruto reached out a hand for her to take, pulling her close as soon as their skin met. He placed her in front of him and gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze. She looked up at the man with cloth over his face and couldn't find a smile.

"This is Tenshi," Naruto said proudly.

Kakashi seemed to almost…_leer_ at her. "Tenshi, is it? Is there a last name to go with that?"

Naruto opened his mouth, but she cut him off with, "Just Tenshi. That's how it's always been."

"Huh," Kakashi said. "Well, we better move along. You see, I'm never one to lollygag."

"_What_?" Naruto gasped. "Yeah right!"

Tenshi looked back and forth between them, feeling more settled and relaxed. Kakashi lightly touched the middle of her back. "Would you like for this meeting to be between you and me, or have Naruto sit in as well?" She searched his one visible eye for anything she didn't like; tried to dig into his soul to feel anything negative coming from him.

She found nothing. "I'm fine alone," she muttered and cast a quick look back at her significant other. He brushed his fingers across the inside of her wrist and leaned down to kiss the corner of her mouth. "You sure?"

She nodded. Kakashi excused them and took Tenshi into his office, where he seated on her a small, blue loveseat and sat before her on a rolling stool. Quite lazily, he leaned forwards with his elbows on his knees and his back curved. She blinked. Okaa-san would've spanked her if she had ever been caught in such a posture. He smiled again through the cloth. "So what's the deal?" he asked. She took a painful breath and crossed her legs, moving her foot to an invisible rhythm. It was a very nostalgic thing to do. "I was a prostitute," she admitted. Kakashi did not falter. "That explains the unusual name and no surname," he said.

"Yes," she whispered, "but I'm not doing that anymore."

"Oh? And what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm living with Naruto. He kidnapped me from Red Heart with the intention of 'saving' me or something like that he said…" She went somewhere inside of herself and brought back a new girl with a lot to say. "He's crazy, but very kind and patient. I've been living with him a few months now and he thinks therapy will be good for me. He thinks he can change me."

The older man never broke eye contact. "And can he?"

Tenshi looked away. "I-I would like to think so. I think he already has, kind of." She swallowed. "I've hurt him though. I've h-hurt him terribly." Tears began to well. "And there's this girl…and another guy…"

"Sakura and Sasuke."

"How…do you know a-about—?"

"Those three go way back. They grew up together. Naruto's father and I were very good friends," he said matter-of-factly. "Speaking of Sasuke, his birthday is in three days." Her brows rose a bit. Kakashi sighed, "I'm guessing this terrible thing you've done involves one of them?"

"Yes…"

"Well," he started, pulling an orange book from beside the stool, "I can't say that I'm surprised."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

He shrugged and flipped a page of the book. "You tell me."

_He's…not making sense. _"I don't know," she said slowly. "I guess it's easy to judge me from my past, but I-I don't want that anymore. I don't want that to be all you see; to be all Naruto sees. I want him to look at me without feeling like he's regretting everything he's been through with me."

"_I've never regretted it." _

She asphyxiated on a hurling sob and felt hot tears slip down her cheeks. "I don't want everything to have been for nothing. I don't want my mother's life." She was rambling now. "I'd give it all up, I'd give up myself to have him." Kakashi smiled softly. She cried, "H-He's perfect. And he's too good for me. I'll never be good enough, but I don't want to think that anymore. I want to feel like I belong with him, like I deserve him. D-Do you understand w-what I'm saying?"

He sat back, flipped another page in that damned orange book, and uttered, "Perhaps it's time for a change then."

Tenshi wiped her wet face and exhaled, not really absorbing what had just happened, what she had just confessed, but felt four-hundred pounds lighter nonetheless. Kakashi stood and helped her to her feet. "I think we're done here." She nodded slowly, eyes on his book. "What are you r-reading?"

He patted her head in response.

* * *

One back at home, Tenshi got into the shower and thoroughly washed her hair.

She took careful time with it, threading her fingers through the slick, wet, soapy strands until she was positive it was clean. Once she'd washed the shampoo out, she twisted the black tendrils in her hands and brought the dripping mass over her shoulder, patting it. Her thoughts raced incessantly as she recalled Kakashi's words over and over again in her head. _"Perhaps it's time for a change." _Pressing her tongue to the roof her mouth, she turned the water of the shower off and stepped out, grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around herself.

She made sure her long hair stayed pulled around her shoulder as she walked to the bathroom mirror and jerked open one of the drawers that the counter had. There were all sorts of random things that Naruto kept in the bathroom drawers: gum, a comb, some money, a package of fruit snacks, headphones, and a pair of shears.

Tenshi took the last item out and pressed the cool metal to her wet collarbone, watching the glint of the light bounce off the silver scissors and into her eyes. Her mouth parted slightly as she raised the sharp object to the span of her white throat, skimming it across the skin before she angled it at her hair. With a quick intake of breath, she sliced off her lovely locks to the very back of her neck.

The curls seem to fall in slow motion as she stared at her changing reflection in the mirror. Hair surrounded her feet and covered the marble of the counter top. The scissors had fallen to the floor with the rest of the mess, the blades still open. She leaned forward and grabbed the back of her head with one hand. Her hair wasn't even long enough for a simple ponytail now.

A small, relieved sigh escaped her lips at that. Her bangs were still there, right to her brows, and the side bangs were just a smidge longer than the back of her hair. She pulled some of it behind her ear and gave the mirror a smile.

Was she still beautiful?

Did it even matter now?

She closed her eyes and once more touched the fringe matted to her forhead. She had never had short hair before. For as long as she could remember, Okaa-san had kept it very long and she had only gotten it trimmed.

"_Perhaps it's time for a change." _

With one more look at the dark strands on the floor, she walked out the bathroom and turned off the light, all the while ignoring Naruto's dropped jaw as he sprung from the bed with wide eyes and raised brows. He watched as she hurriedly put her clothes on: a simple pair of red underwear and one of his too-big T-shirts.

"T-_Tenshi_," he said, "what _happened_ to—?"

"Nothing," she interrupted.

He finally realized he was staring at her slack jawed, so quickly snapped his mouth shut. She wasn't looking at him, but was leaning against the dresser from which she had pulled out her clothes. Her head was cast down, and, for the first time, he could see the creamy skin of the back of her neck. It was different. He licked his lips and got up from the bed, slowly walking towards her until he was snug enough to place his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but didn't shake him off.

He clenched the fabric of her shirt in his hand and shrugged her close, adjusting her so that they were facing each other. She glanced away, not wanting to meet his inquisitive gaze, but he stubbornly snagged her chin and turned her face. "Why won't you look at me?" She bit at her lips. "I…I don't have anything to say."

"That's okay." Her eyes fluttered closed and then back open as his fingers swirled circles into the back of her neck. "I can see your whole face now. You're _beautiful_."

Her breath caught. "It'll take s-some getting used to," she muttered, putting her hand over his. He smiled and leaned down to brush his lips across her forehead before tilting her head up and gently pressing his mouth against hers.

Tenshi fisted her hands in his shirt as he pulled away. "I love you," he said.

The corner of her mouth rose as she responded, as always, with, "I know." But this time, her heart was in the right place.

* * *

**Oh. My. Fucking. God. You do not understand the complete **_**shit**_** I've been through within the last couple of months. I'm so happy I pumped this chapter out though. I think I finally found my muse. And I mean that this time. I hope you're not too pissed off. **

**Here we go: **

**InuKag4everbabe: **Well, I never said I didn't like NaruHina. I mean, they aren't my favorite couple; I'm more of a SasuHina kind of gal. But thank you!

**Aim-64C: **Wow, thank you so much. I apologize for whatever you went through, but at the same time I'm glad it causes you to feel more connected to the story.

**Johnny D: **Despite the negativity, the review made me laugh. Hey, it's all about the that silver lining, ya know?

**FF8ceberus: **Thanks for sticking with me.

**The Devil's Avenger: **You could never bug me, I'm happy you're commenting.

**KitElizaKing: **I will do my best.

**4master: **FINALLY! I've satisfied you!

**Annasuki: **The end…has a while to get here.

**Kataangforever2: **Oh, thanks, babe!

**There you have it and I'll see you soon! (No, really, I'll have the next chapter up by the end of this month…seriously this time…okay.)**


	19. 18: Cupid Has a Gun

**Until We Bleed **by **Kleerup ft. Lykke Li**

* * *

_And if Cupid's got a gun,  
__Then he's shootin'._

**.18.  
****love until we bleed**

Sasuke glared at his calendar with narrowed eyes and complete malice for the date that Karin had decorated with a small red heart. His mouth thinned considerably as he stood to his feet and gathered a load of papers into his arms, dumping them on his desk before scattering them over the wood's surface. He slammed his hands down, wincing as his phone buzzed for the umpteenth time that morning. The blinking name across the front, however, surprised him, and he immediately snatched it from its position. For reasons he couldn't explain, his heart picked up speed.

The phone vibrated in his palm three more times before he finally answered, slowly bringing it to his ear and not saying a word. The voice on the other end caught their breath, exhaling slowly as they uttered his name.

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction. The caller ID had read _Uzumaki Naruto_, but the whispery mumblings were not his.

"Hinata," he said softly, as if speaking too loudly would frighten her away.

He could hear her smile. _"Happy birthday,"_ she said and then quickly hung up.

For a moment or two after that, he listened to the silence blaring into his eardrums. It wasn't like him to feel so emotional, or happy, or even a bit satisfied, but hearing _her_ carved something in him that he didn't even have the patience to comprehend. He simply gave a small smirk and set the phone atop his many papers.

He knew she wouldn't be calling again anytime soon, but for the first time in two years, he sat down at his desk and filled out his paper work without asking Nara Shikamaru to finish it for him. Like he expected, the screen never lit up with Naruto's name, but the small shred of him that hoped it would kept him at that desk with a pen in his hand.

And though the face of a dark-haired girl kept appearing in his mind each time he glanced at his phone, something in him wondered if Naruto remembered it was his birthday, too.

He licked his lips, neatly stacking his papers to the side of his laptop. When he finally finished, it was nearly one in the afternoon and his wrist was stiff and swollen. He sighed in agitation and lifted himself from his swivel chair, walking into the kitchen to soothe his joints with a bag of ice. "Fucking carpel tunnel," he cursed, setting the freezing cubes on the inside and side of his wrist where the bones ached the worst. As he stood in his kitchen, he quietly appreciated the fact that Wednesdays weren't a part of Karin's sober days; else she'd be at his house right under him and leaving him questioning his sanity and choice of women.

Clenching his hand into a tight fist to stretch his muscles, Sasuke walked back his desk and prepared to sit down when a small, hurried knock erupted at his door.

He instantly stood erect, his swivel chair getting knocked backwards by the force of his legs hitting it. Automatically, he imagined opening the door and seeing Hinata standing over the threshold, a blush on her pale cheeks and bottom lip caught between her teeth. It wasn't a carnal desire that had made him so attached her, but simply the comfort of knowing that if anyone could forgive him, accept him, it would be her. It had to be.

Sasuke cleared his throat and strode over to the door, calmly opening it all the way. There indeed was a girl on the other side, but, once again, his expectations were different than what he had originally assumed. He let her in nonetheless, watching the careful sway of her narrow hips as she stepped into his home. "What do you want?" he asked.

She turned to face him, her mouth pursed in confusion. "What do you think? Wishing you a happy birthday, of course."

"A simple phone call would've sufficed."

She took a hand through her hair and smiled gently. "Come now, Sasuke. You and I…we're friends."

He didn't say anything. She sighed, her brows furrowing as a question entered her mind. "Has Naruto called you?"

"No."

"Oh. Why not?"

He took the bag of ice from his wrist and tossed it on one of Karin's shirts that was laying across a couch in the living room. "Don't worry about it."

She pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply through her nose, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head softly. "Sasuke, I know about Tenshi, okay? I know about how you slept with her and about how you got her pregnant—"

"Goddamn it, Sakura, I fucking told you not to worry about it." Sasuke's black eyes somehow darkened and he scrutinized Sakura as if she was nothing more than a cockroach invading his personal space. "And you wonder why I don't want you over here," he finished, turning his back to her and walking to his desk where he finished putting his paperwork into an assortment of manila folders. Sakura wasn't fazed by his harshness; she almost appreciated it. Nothing about Sasuke had changed and that consoled her. She licked her lips, unfazed by his clipped tone. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's none of your damn business."

"Was it before or after I…I told you I loved you?"

He paused his filing to take a deep intake of breath, annoyed by her curiosity. "Before."

She swallowed loudly, relief swimming through her system. "Who _is_ she, Sasuke? How the hell did you get tangled up with a girl like _that_?"

"Don't talk like you know her, alright? You don't know the shit we've been through."

"Well, I would if you'd just tell me…" Sakura hastily eased to Sasuke's side, clenching the back of his shirt until he maneuvered the top half his body to face her. He stared momentarily into her glistening emerald eyes as her fingers dug painlessly into his side. "No," he said.

Her grip loosened a bit and tears welled into those beautiful eyes.

One of Sasuke's eyebrows rose in awe. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I know you're hurting."

"You think you know everything, Sakura, but you don't."

"Not everything!" she snapped. "But I can tell when someone I care about is in pain! You lost a child; are you really that cold that you can't feel the hurt from it?" Her hands shook, the veins in her neck swelling to a very visible size. She tilted her head, hoping her tears would slip back into their ducts, but her plan failed. They only slid across the bottoms of her lids and trekked down her pounding temples in little waves. "I'm only trying to help," she whispered, her voice thick and hoarse. Sasuke could only find it in himself to blink. She felt his nonchalance in the air around them, however, and scoffed at herself.

Sakura wasn't a bad person. She knew that she'd made mistakes in her lifetime, especially with trying to get Naruto back, but she carried the ability to recognize her errors. She understood now, watching the man she used to love shake his head at her tears, that nothing she thought mattered really mattered anymore. She used to believe she could win anyone's heart with her charm and beauty; her outside had been everything, and everyone was allowed to look, but no one could ever touch. But as she stared into Uchiha Sasuke's empty eyes, she realized that she should have turned herself inside out a long time ago.

If Sasuke could not tell her he regretted the lost life of his unborn child, what made her think he could love her? Why couldn't she understand that Naruto would never take her back after what she did to him? She didn't understand why he loved Tenshi the way he did, but what gave her the right to judge who he gave _his_ heart to? After all, he'd once given it to her, and she'd ripped it from her chest and gave it to Sasuke instead.

_I am not perfect, _she thought with a sad smile on her face, _and I know that now. _

She wiped her reddening eyes. Sasuke closed his. "_Stop_ _crying_," he hissed.

"I'm not crying for you," she said. "I'm crying for _Tenshi_."

He frowned, his lids snapping open. He shifted so that they were nearly chest to chest, grabbing her forearm. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She matched him with as much arrogance as he had given her. "We were both in love with the same asshole. Only I just got my heart broken. She lost a baby, and you don't even care."

He dropped his hand like it was on fire. "Watch your fucking mouth—"

"Did you know I've been…hating her? I _hated_ her because she had a part of you; a part of you that I would _never_ have—"

"Sakura, I'm fucking _warning_ you," he growled. "_Shut_ _up_."

"No," she breathed. "You made me feel like I wasn't good enough, Sasuke."

He scowled. "No, I didn't. You did that yourself. You were better off with Naruto."

"Why?"

"Because he actually gives a shit about you."

Her heart plummeted into her stomach. A tremor ripped through her legs and made her knees quake. "And you don't?" she gasped, her mouth dry. His jaw clenched, and that movement seemed to answer her question.

She nodded. "I feel sorry for Tenshi. There's no telling what she went through with you."

"_Why_ are you so concerned?" he gritted through clenched teeth.

"Because it's _not_ fair to her!"

"You fuck up just like I do! Don't give me that bullshit—"

"Where's your compassion, Sasuke? What happened to you?"

His chest swelled with anger, the tips of his ears flushing red as he roughly grabbed Sakura's arms and jerked her towards him, nearly knocking her down in the process. His fingers tightened their grip, and he leaned down so close she could see her reflection in his pupils. "I swear to God, if you don't shut the fuck up, I will—"

"What?" she dared. Sasuke almost faltered. "I'm not scared of you, Sasuke. You can't hurt me." He seemed to quiver, raising his head slightly. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "But you can talk to me." He wrenched himself from her comforting touch, muttering something that sounded quite akin to "bitch" under his breath. Sakura rolled her eyes at his immaturity. "I want to help Tenshi, too."

"_Why_?"

She bit her bottom lip to the point of pain. The guilt of kissing Naruto was eating her alive. She hadn't slept and she'd barely eaten. Anything she could do for Tenshi was better than suffering under the weight of her grievances. "I owe her."

Sasuke shook his head. "There's nothing you can do." Behind his eyes, a foreign burning was taking place. He wanted everything to be alright just as much as Sakura did, but he had been raised to learn how to move on from the past. But as a strong memory of Hinata's lips on his crossed his mind, he realized—with very little acceptance—that he owed her as well. "Fuck," he muttered. Sakura frowned. "What?"

A terrible shiver crawled down his spine. "The Snake Room," was all he said. Sakura made a face. "What are you—?"

"That's where we met—the Snake Room." He could remember walking through the door one morning and hearing a little girl scream. "That's where she was before she went to Red Heart."

"_Red Heart_? What the hell is that?"

Sasuke felt like he was going to vomit. Quickly, he grabbed Sakura's hand and yanked her with him to his front door, shrugging it open and placing her over the threshold of the penthouse. She fought with him for a moment, but when she took a look in his eyes, she saw they were misty and glossed over. A piercing pain struck her chest. "Sasuke…"

He pushed her further back. "Take that information and get the fuck out of here." And with those last words, he promptly slammed the door in her tear-streaked face.

* * *

Gaara and Sari arrived in Kumejima around three in the afternoon.

It was a long plane ride to the nearly empty island, and while Sari sulked most of the time, Gaara was more than happy to escape the prison that was Tokyo.

_"There's a girl looking for you." _

From the moment those words had emptied from Sari's mouth, he'd known they'd have to leave as soon as possible. At the moment, he didn't care if he was running away from his problems; that girl would be the near death of him, and he would not stick around and be forced to meet her hollow, grey eyes for a second time.

Kumejima's isolated planes and vast oceans would protect them. He was sure of that.

"I hate flying," Sari commented as they stepped into the home he hadn't seen in three years. He was about sixteen when he encountered the woman Sari had called Tenshi. The meeting had taken place in Orochimaru's infamous Snake Room, where the blood on the sheets was like a constant reminder that evil really did come in all forms. It was a dark place in his memory; the feeling of soft skin against his and the sensation of lips on his shoulders were like brands of what he'd done in there. His father had been the one who introduced him to Orochimaru a few days before he was mysteriously murdered. Gaara had always known Orochimaru had killed his father.

His family had been very wealthy in their prime—the wealthiest in the Okinawa Prefecture—and after Gaara's mother died, his father had taken a liking to drugs, gambling, alcohol, and women.

During that devastating part of his life, his two siblings had been taken away from his father and given to distant relatives in order to protect their name and keep them safe from their father's drunken rages. Gaara, however, had gotten the short end of the stick; he was chosen to remain under his father while the eldest, Temari, was moved outside of Okinawa. Although Gaara had not seen her in more than ten years, he had gotten into contact with his brother, Kankurō. He had been flown all the way into the United States where he created computer software that brought in millions of dollars. Both he and Gaara split that money and the fortunes of their family in half, but not even Kankurō knew where Temari was.

Eventually, they both stopped the search for her. Kankurō assumed that perhaps she had been killed as well, being the oldest of them and therefore the heiress to their father's empire, but Gaara believed she was still alive.

He hoped she was still alive.

"Gaara? I'm hungry," Sari groaned behind him, and he quickly snapped out of his reverie and tossed her a steely turquoise glance. "Eat," he said simply and smirked softly as she grumbled something incoherent in response and stalked into the kitchen. For a moment, he watched her as she stood on her tiptoes to open one of the cabinets, her long hair tickling her lower waist.

_Sari, _he thought briefly. "Sari."

"Hmm?" she muttered, sighing when she saw nothing appetizing in the cabinet. She closed it with an agitated moan, turning around to lean back against the counter.

He blinked a few times. "Where's Matsuri?"

Sari's head snapped up in surprise, her thin brows drawn together in the middle of her forehead.

Living with his father had not been completely terrible for Gaara. When he was ten, he met Sari and her best friend Matsuri while roaming around the playground of a primary school. He himself had been homeschooled, and found the interaction of the other children both interesting and depressing. When he sat on the one of the swings, Sari—in her brash, nine-year-old persona—had very rudely made him aware that the swing set was solely hers to enjoy and then proceeded to roughly shove him from the seat. Matsuri, however, was the complete opposite of her aggressive playmate, and rushed to Gaara's side to make sure he was alright.

It had taken a year or two of convincing, but soon the three of them became an odd group of friends. Gaara was the son of a drug-addicted millionaire, Matsuri's parents had run off when she was an infant, and Sari had never really belonged to a family. The only thing she had to her name were two photos given to her by a caretaker when she was four-years-old. There was one of her as a baby and then another of her dead mother. Over the years, she had taken to keeping every photo she took, and her assemblage had grown to a rather impressive number.

"Why the hell are you bringing _her_ up all of a sudden? I've been staying with you for weeks and not once have you mentioned her." Sari briskly exited the kitchen, attempting to inch passed him on her way to one of the upstairs bedrooms when he snagged her cold hand in his. "Let go of me," she gnarled impatiently, tugging her arm away. He quietly released her, his eyes softening. "Do you know where she is?"

"_No_."

He almost smirked. "Don't lie to me."

Her breath hitched. "_How_ do you know—?"

"Why did you two leave?"

She frowned and took a deep inhalation of much needed breath. When they were sixteen or so, Matsuri's grandfather, who was also her legal guardian, died of a terminal cancer. In her desperation, she begged her friends to leave in order to remain safe from child services, who would surely collect her and force her to live amongst a foster family, amongst strangers. Matsuri had been a very shy, timid girl, who feared change and loneliness. She knew those two factors would come into play if she was taken into the care of people she didn't know. By that time, Gaara had already had his affair with Tenshi in Tokyo and his father was dead. There was absolutely no reason for him to stay.

With Sari and Matsuri by his side, he gathered what money he could, got in touch with some very important men, and took over his father's company. He then left his home and traveled to Kumejima where his mother's beach house was patiently waiting.

There, the three of them lived quite peacefully for a few years. Sari and Matsuri attended a local school to finish off their two more years of education while Gaara took classes online in order to run his father's business.

He was content; he had a small family and everything he needed to support them with. But he learned the hard way that misery not only loves company; it is terribly jealous of happiness.

At eighteen, Matsuri received a phone call that her parents were alive, found on the outskirts of the island Hokkaido by some very distant relatives of hers. She was more than ecstatic, and her friends received the bitter half of the news.

Sari, who never wanted to leave, was condoned into traveling with Matsuri to Hokkaido because they were, and always had been, best friends. There was no way she could _not_ go.

Gaara swallowed down his reservations and allowed the girls to leave. He spent a year in Kumejima alone, but then moved before his twentieth birthday. However, instead of returning to the Okinawa mainland, he found himself back in Tokyo. While there, he kept in touch with his brother and searched a bit for his sister, establishing the Sabaku name among other business, but barely living off his fortune.

And then Sari popped back into his life.

"Do you know where she is?" Gaara asked again. Of course, he'd always wondered what exactly had become of Matsuri. When they were children, she'd grown very fond of him, and when they moved in together, she'd told him she loved him on many occasions. He never said it back—because he didn't feel the same way—but he cared for her immensely in the same manner that he loved Temari and Sari. And he wanted to know if she was safe.

Sari tossed her eyes to the side. "Yeah, I know."

He let go of the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Sari pushed her tongue into her cheek, watching his usually stoic expression melt into one of true curiosity.

"Tell me what happened."

She nodded. "When we left for Hokkaido, Matsuri had the idea that she would finally be reunited with her parents. We, um, contacted one of the women that called us so that she could introduce us to Matsuri's family, but…"

Gaara frowned. "What?"

She cleared he throat, tears filling her eyes. "They, um, weren't her mother and father."

"What do you _mean_?"

"I _mean_ they were pretending. For some reason, they were under the impression that Matsuri was still about ten-years-old. They were planning on posing as her parents in order to receive money from the government to take care of her. They were poor, so if they had a kid, they could get benefits to support her and then use it for themselves."

Gaara's nostrils flared in new found anger. "If they weren't her parents, then who the fuck were they?"

"The woman was a step-sister of Matsuri's real mother and the man was her husband." She licked her lips. "Matsuri was crushed."

"Of course she was!" Gaara suddenly exploded. "All she ever wanted was her family!"

"Don't you think I _know_ that?"

He growled, "Why didn't you come home afterwards? Why did you stay? I gave you plenty of money; you could've come back."

She looked away from his tormenting gaze. "Matsuri was too afraid. She didn't know what you would think…and she was so in love with you that…that she couldn't face you again."

"Sari—"

"I wanted to come back, but I couldn't leave her. So we ran away from Hokkaido and went to Tokyo."

A dark look overcame his features. "Where you started stripping."

"Yes," she whispered.

"At Acid."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"After a month or two, we ran out of money. It was the only thing we could think of. We had no kind of information or identity to get real jobs. We didn't know what t-to _do_." She started to cry, roughly wiping her eyes in frustration. Gaara had not so much as blinked. Sari continued to explain that after six months of working at Acid, she and Matsuri left in order to find some sort of alternate option. She told him how they came across a haven; a house for girls and women who were trying to get off the streets, off the poles, or out of the workhouses.

"Why didn't you stay?" Gaara snarled. "From what you told me, you met Tenshi in Acid. Why were you there?"

"It wasn't right for me!" she defended. "Matsuri had changed since Hokkaido. She was barely _speaking_. I though she was gone, Gaara. I thought those fucked up people had finally destroyed her. I thoughtt—"

"You thought you'd lost her," he finished in his raspy voice.

She choked on a sob and nodded twice. "Besides, I never had a family. She told me once I would never understand because the only thing I had was my pictures and the clothes on my fucking back." She made a grim face. "And stripping was easy."

He glanced at her, and then taking a few steps forward, he placed a hand on the span of her hip and squeezed in an affectionate gesture. "_I'm_ your family, you idiot."

Sari broke into an all out sob. She wrapped her arms around Gaara's neck and cried into the slope of his shoulder, her hair tangling in his nimble fingers. They remained in that locked position for a few minutes before she took her head from his throat and sniffled. Staring into his pale green eyes, she felt a small frown come across her features. "Tenshi," she mumbled.

His eyes widened. "What?"

"Tenshi," she repeated. "Why are you hiding from her? What is she to you?"

Gaara hastily removed her slender arms from him and placed them by her sides, leaning in close to her wet, puffy face. "_Don't_ concern yourself with that."

But in his conscious, a little thought was birthed, grew legs, and raced around his mind: _because she is the single reminder that you were once like your bastard of a father. _

Sari swallowed, signifying that she clearly understood. "She was in Rakuen then, you know. Right outside of Tokyo."

"I know," he muttered. _Rakuen… _When he'd traveled with his father to Tokyo on what he thought was business trip, he instead became acquainted with Orochimaru and his Snake Room first handedly. Although the Snake Room was not directly in Rakuen, Gaara knew that was where Orochimaru collected most of his girls.

Tenshi included.

"That's where Matsuri is," Sari said slowly. "Rakuen."

Gaara's lips thinned. "What's the name of the refuge?"

Sari smiled softly. "The Butterfly House; run by a woman named Yuhi Kurenai."

* * *

Sai uncovered his finished masterpiece for his client, watching with pride as the older man's pale, thin mouth curved at one corner.

"How do you like it, Hyūga-san?" Sai asked respectfully. The man nodded, his daughter by his side, and reached out to lovingly stroke back her shoulder-length brown hair. The girl's light grey eyes crinkled in a smile in return.

"It's very beautiful," he said, turning to the girl. "Do you like it, Hanabi?"

She nodded quickly. Her father looked back at Sai, graciously holding out his hand to shake the painter's and pay him for his hard work. Hanabi gazed at her self-portrait, mesmerized, and bowed a thank you.

Sai gave a small grin at her. "You're very welcome." He too gave the portrait a quick glance, but felt uneasy when a feeling of recognition passed over him. Hyūga Hanabi was strangely familiar because he felt as if he'd painted another set of eyes as grey and penetrating as hers. In fact, he _knew_ he had.

Kindly, he leaned down to the girl's level and smiled. "Do you have an older sister? I feel like I know you."

Her father frowned, and when Hanabi shook her head no, Sai stood back up straight and stared at her. He knew he'd painted an older version of her; her eyes were a dead giveaway.

But for the life of him, he could not recall the client that had asked for the painting.

"We'll be going now," Hanabi's father said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. "Thank you again."

Sai's brows furrowed, but he waved goodbye nonetheless, thoroughly troubled.

* * *

**I won't bore you with my execuses, but I hope you're still dedicated to reading this because I (believe it or not) am dedicating to finishing this. I hope you enjoyed yourself. Tenshi and Naruto will be back next chapter. C'mon and review; I know you guys are bubbling with questions. I read all of you guys' comments and sometimes they make me cry. Honestly, you guys are keeping me going and really inspire me to want to finish this. **

**Thank you. I won't do review replies for this chapter simply because I'm really exhausted, but definitely for the next one! Until next time (which will **_**not**_** take another three months…promise).**


	20. 19: Fall

**Bound to You **by** Christina Aguilera. **For the love of God, listen to that damn song.

* * *

_My heart and I were buried in dust  
__Free me, free us._

**.19.  
****fall**

The day of Sasuke's birthday was an interesting one. Of course, there had been an unspoken tension if the house, but Tenshi had remained in her usual nonchalant, calm stupor. However, Naruto had paced the kitchen, eaten so many bowls of ramen that she'd lost count, and played solitaire on the computer for more than six hours. She could tell that he was obviously stressed, but she decided that pretending like everything was fine would be for the best in their current situation.

Naruto was tormented by the possibilities of losing Sasuke as a friend, and she was troubled by the thought that she actually _wanted_ Sasuke in her life. Despite everything they had gone through and the many lies that he'd imprinted on the roof of her mouth with his poisonous kisses, there was a special place that he'd dug into her heart.

It was after she had quietly wished him a happy birthday did she finally realize she had forgiven him.

The epiphany was startling in itself, but Tenshi was beginning to understand things she never had the capacity—or the will—to comprehend before. She was scared, but she washed those negative feelings away and tried to concentrate on the good that would come out of her current circumstances. There was Naruto, of course, for he was the sunshine to her dark days. There were still people she loved in the world: Tenten, Ino, Temari, and Neji. There was time to search for Gaara, time to rekindle with Sasuke, and time to finally find herself.

She sunk into the couch she was lounging on, her back soothed by the softness of the furniture, watching as Naruto attempted to clean a china plate before dropping it to the kitchen floor.

"Fuck!" he cursed as shards splattered. The hairs on the back of Tenshi's neck stood as she heard the plate shatter. Shivering, she made a move to help him clean up the mess when an imaginary voice whispered in her ear. It said no words; just gently hummed like the lullabies her mother would sing.

But then the voice did conjure words, and she could feel Orochimaru's hands holding her wrists like vices wrapped in cactus spikes.

"_No matter how happy you think you are, my love, I will find you. I will find you, and when I do, I'm _never_ letting you go."_

"Naruto," she croaked, scurrying to his side as if demons were crawling from under the sofa and licking at her heels. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she stood on her tiptoes to press her face in the crook of his neck. He seemed to snap out of whatever mood Sasuke's birthday had put him in and carefully hoisted her up onto the counter by her forearms. "Shit, Tenshi," he mumbled, glancing down at her pale feet. Sure enough, there was china shards stuck in the soft flesh. "You ran right through that glass…"

Her hands shook as she wrapped her fingers in the collar of his shirt. Her legs wound around his lower half, her heels digging into his backside.

"Tenshi," he muttered, "your feet are bleeding—"

"Don't let him get me, okay?"

Naruto faltered, his entire body becoming rigid and stiff as he slowly absorbed her words. Tears had begun to fill her eyes, both from the emotional stress of hearing strange voices and the sting of glass pieces in her skin. He placed his hands against her thighs, staring deeply into her eyes, his brow furrowed. She sniffled, disturbed.

"Don't…let _who_ get you?"

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck and inching herself as close to him as possible. She was sobbing now, her lithe form trembling in his arms.

"Talk to me, baby," he whispered against her hair. His hand traveled to the back of her neck where her black locks used to cascade down and shroud her shoulders. Now, instead of silky tendrils, all he felt was smooth, cool skin.

Tenshi continued to cry into his shoulder, mumbling things he couldn't understand.

Naruto could only hold her, and they became a mess of confusion, tears, and blood.

* * *

Sakura unlocked the door to Sai's apartment, throwing her keys onto a table next to the door and running her hands through her hair. She immediately began stripping her clothes as she walked down the hall into the bathroom. She unhooked her bra, sighing happily as her breasts fell from their tight confinements.

"Sai?" she called, turning on the water for her shower. "Sai!" she said again, pulling her panties down her legs and tossing them to the side.

He came to stand at the doorway, watching her with hungry eyes. "Hey."

She grinned, stepping into the shower and relishing the feel of the hot water splaying her body. Coming home to Sai after spending time with Sasuke was surprisingly…refreshing. "Get in," she told him and he smirked, shrugging out of his clothes. His pale skin gleamed as he joined her, the drops of water giving his usual ashen tone a subtle shine. Sakura stood on her toes to press a kiss to his mouth.

"How was work?" he asked, toying with her hair.

"It was work," she answered, turning her back to him while she lathered up in soap. In all actuality, she hadn't gone to work that day. She'd visited Sasuke at his home, gotten kicked out, and spent the rest of the day crying and eating ice cream in a nearby park. Sai spread his hands across the span of her hips. "What about you?" she asked.

"Sold that painting finally," he mumbled.

"Really? Man, I never got to see it."

Sai frowned. "It was alright. But the client it was for… I don't know; his daughter just looked really familiar."

Sakura turned back around, covering his chest in soapy bubbles. "Maybe you know her."

He shook his head. "There's no way. She was at least twelve-years-old. I don't hang around kids."

Sakura made a face. "That is weird. What'd she look like?"

"Brown hair. Really big, grey eyes. Almost silver, actually. She was a pretty little thing."

It was as if someone had slapped her. Sakura dropped the cloth she'd been holding, mouth hanging agape, eyes like saucers. Sai almost turned red. "What? It's _okay_ to call twelve-year-olds pretty. It's not like I said she was _sexy_ or anything—"

"No," she interrupted. "Her eyes. You said her eyes were _silver_." _How many fucking Japanese people have silver eyes? That's not a coincidence; it can't be. _

He nodded, but then clapped his hands in realization. "That's _it_! _Shit_, why didn't I notice it before?"

Sakura's heart hammered in her chest, her knees nearly buckling. "W-What? What?"

Sai smiled. "I painted a girl that was her _twin_. I mean, same eyes and everything." He tapped his chin in deep thought. "Tenshi," he said slowly. "They called her Tenshi. Weird, right?" He barely had time to blink before Sakura was clawing at the shower door, yanking it open and haul-assing through the hall, stark naked and soaking wet. She slipped making a sharp turn for the bedroom, skidding one of her knees and rolling across the floor. She hardly registered the throbbing of her now bleeding leg, however, as she got to her feet and took a few breaths.

"Sakura!" Sai called. He raced into the room after her, a towel slung low on his hips and black hair dripping onto the carpet. "What the hell's gotten into you?"

Sakura bit her lip and couldn't even force one of her smiles.

She collapsed onto the bed, running her hands through her wet, pink locks as tears brimmed the bottoms of her eyes. Sai frowned, heading to the dresser to pull out a T-shirt. He gently placed it in her lap and watched as she muttered a thanks before pulling the article of clothing over her head. For a moment they sat in the uncomfortable silence until Sai could no longer take being confused. "What's going on?" he asked, touching her shoulder. "Do you know that girl or something?"

She licked her lips, placing her hand over his. "Where did you paint her twin?"

"Sakura, why is that—?"

"_Please_. Please tell me."

He swallowed, obviously embarrassed. "She was at a placed called Red Heart. It's in a real shady part of Tokyo; downtown Rakuen, actually. You've probably never heard of it—"

"Sai," Sakura interrupted, standing. Her legs quivered under her weight, but she had to know. Her fingers shook as she fisted them in the wet curls at the nape of his neck. Carefully, she placed a kiss against his mouth, too chaste for him to enjoy. "What is it?" she croaked. "What is Red Heart?" For herself, for Sasuke, for Tenshi, for Naruto…she would save them. She would save all of them, redeem all of them. But first she had to know. Sai held her face and watched her cry. He had never seen her so vulnerable before and it scared him. Sakura had never been one to show weakness, and if she did, she was faking it.

He managed to spit an answer out, "It's a place for…girls…who, um, prostitute. You know, like a modern-day whore house—"

"_What_?" Sakura recoiled from his touch, her face hot. Tenshi? A prostitute? "That can't be right. No, that's not right!" _Does Naruto know? Did Sasuke know? _

"It _is_, Sakura. Of course, it's legal there. Back when I was still struggling to find clients I came into contact with a woman named Tsunade. She talked about these girls she wanted painted; said they were all beautiful and she wanted their faces hung on the walls…" Sai scratched his head. "I painted Tenshi last, after five or six other girls. Tsunade hung it up over the entrance when it was complete."

Sakura's nails dung into the skin of her arms. "How long ago was that?"

He frowned in concentration. "Before I met you. About two years ago."

_Shit. About the time I broke up with Naruto… _She struggled to breathe. So, Tenshi was a formal prostitute who had somehow wormed her way into the soft spots of Naruto's heart. As for Sasuke, she had obviously known him longer. _The Snake Room_, she remembered.

Sai reached out for her. "Are you alright?"

"Do you know anything about the Snake Room?"

"What?"

"The _Snake Room_."

"No," he said. "Why the fuck are you asking all these questions, though? Do you know Hyūga-san?"

"Hyūga?" Sakura gasped.

Sai nodded. "Hyūga Hanabi and her father. The clients."

Sakura blinked multiple times, trying to absorb every tidbit of information. There was no proof any of those people were related to Tenshi, but Sakura doubted there were any other girls who could pass as a twin to a girl as beautiful as Tenshi was. It was a start, but she didn't know whether to run with it or try to dig deeper. After a moment, she regained her regular breathing and decided she would wait. She would make sure she had the facts before she went to either Naruto or Tenshi. She figured if she could find out more about Tenshi's past, she'd be able to help her, comfort her, while at the same time protecting Naruto from her dangerous secrets.

_There's no way he knows. He would never date someone like that—move in with someone like that. _

Sai began to dress himself. "Will you talk to me, please?"

She shook her head very softly. "Not yet. But I will."

"_Sakura_—"

"Sai," she persisted. "I just need you to trust me right now and tell me where Red Heart is."

* * *

Tenshi pressed her lips against Ai's bowl, sprinkling in fish food as she did so and watching the gold koi swim around happily. A smile took the shape of her mouth as she sat back on her haunches and watched the show. She chewed her bottom lip, taking her hand through her short hair.

It was around eleven-thirty at night, which meant Sasuke's birthday would be over soon and things would—hopefully—return to semi-normal.

She picked herself up and got into bed, pulling the covers up until she was completely shrouded in blankets. After the kitchen confrontation, Naruto had become very quiet. However, she was thankful for that. She knew it was in his nature to prod and ponder, but he did neither of the things. She'd cried on him for at least fifteen minutes before he'd picked her up, stripped both his and her clothes, and taken a shower with her. It was all somehow very modest and innocent-like the way he'd silently comforted her among the soap, steam, and hot water. She'd felt much better after that and quietly thanked him.

Now, she was lying alone in bed, wanting nothing more than his arms around her. Naruto had taken it among himself to give her "space" and retreated downstairs. But Tenshi didn't want fucking space. She wanted _him_.

Punching her pillows with about as much force as Akiku, she bounded out of the bed and angrily stomped downstairs. She wasn't sure why, but she needed an argument. She wanted Naruto riled up and livid. She had been so depressed and broken after listening to Orochimaru's voice slithering inside of her head that she needed a change in temperature and environment. Naruto could always get her blood pumping; he could set her on fire. Feeling her hands sweat, she moved to stand in front of him as he sat on the couch, her body blocking the television.

He glanced into her eyes and she could see his were tired and unusually dark. "Hi," he said.

She reached down plucked the remote from his hand, quickly switching the TV off and placing the controller on the coffee table. "Come to bed," she said sternly. "_Now_."

Naruto smiled a bit, shaking his head. He reached for the remote and turned the TV back on. "I told you," he started, "that you need to rest."

The tips of her ears reddened. "I don't want to rest," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. Naruto's brows furrowed. "Whatever you're doing, it's not going to work."

That made Tenshi even angrier. She snatched the remote from his hand once again, only this time she chucked it to the nearest wall, watching as it broke into tiny pieces. Coincidentally, it shattered next to the dent where Naruto had punched the wall. He stood to his feet, roughly grabbing her forearm. "What the fuck is your problem?"

She dug her nails into his hand, ready to claw at his skin until the nearly-faded scars on his cheeks came into her front-line of view. Almost like instinct, she released her grip but didn't budge from where she stood.

Naruto squeezed her arm, pulling her forward until their chests bumped. "I'm taking you upstairs," he said slowly. "You need to sleep."

"I don't want to _fucking_ sleep!" She dug her heels into the carpet, her body becoming so rigid he literally had to _drag_ her to the staircase. "Stop! Naruto, stop it!" He didn't listen. Instead, he heaved her over his shoulder, grunting as she balled her fists and beat against his strong back. He held her thighs tight enough so that she couldn't swing her legs into his groin. He went up the stairs quickly, kicking open the bedroom door and gracelessly tossing Tenshi to the bed.

"_Motherfucker_!" she screamed, thrashing against him and howling when he toppled her, straddling her legs, gathering her wrists in both his hands and slamming them to bed above her head.

"Stop fighting me," he said, wincing when her knee banged sharply into his abdomen. Finally, he'd had enough.

Mustering up all of his strength, he grabbed her forearms, bringing the top half of her body off the bed before pushing her against it again. He shook her roughly to stop her shrieking, his fingers leaving bruises against her delicate skin.

"_Shut up_!" he bit out, and with one more shake, Tenshi fell quiet. However, the initial shock of his booming voice wore off more quickly then he had anticipated.

"Get off of me," she seethed, her eyes narrowed and mouth trembling.

"Why do you do this?" Naruto asked gently. "Do you _want_ me to be angry?"

She wriggled under his impending grip. "Get off!"

"No!"

"You son of bitch—!"

"You're _sick_, Tenshi, alright? You're sick and you need help!"

The breath was stolen from Tenshi's lungs as she looked up into Naruto's blue eyes. Without even realizing it, she was crying, helplessly attempting to free her arms or her legs but he had her pinned down so tightly she couldn't budge. She rolled her head back so he couldn't see her tears, but they leaked out of her eyes and down the sides of her face like tiny waterfalls. There was no hiding and she felt like an insect under a microscope. "I'm fine," she insisted weakly. Naruto climbed off her, yanking her up to stand in front of him, the backs of her knees against the bed. She shivered in his hold, her face pallid and her mouth set in a thin line.

"You're not fine," he said. "You're not…healthy."

Her eyes darkened. "Well, when did you get your PhD, Dr. Uzumaki?"

"Goddamn it, I'm trying to help you!"

"You really want to help me?" she whispered, encircling her arms around his neck. He stiffened, his gaze falling down to her pink mouth before he looked back into her eyes. They were clouded with lust. "Fuck me," she begged, one of her hands traveling down his chest and into the band of his sweat pants. She kissed him, forcing her tongue into his mouth and biting his bottom lip. Naruto growled, hurriedly grabbing her hand and pushing her away. She blinked a few times in surprise, her mouth opening and closing, but no words came out.

He groaned in frustration. "This is exactly what I mean. You can't use sex as a weapon anymore, do you understand me?"

Her throat suddenly felt bone-dry. "Naruto—"

"Is that how you forget? Is that how you make all your problems go away?"

"Shut up," she gasped, feeling the tears spill. "You don't know anything about me—"

"Then tell me!" He grabbed her once more, but she was now limp and unresponsive. He held her face in his large hands, sweeping the pads of his thumbs across her tears. "What were you talking about earlier? Who are you so afraid of?"

Tenshi's brows furrowed. Goddamn him for always being right and for always being there. She hated it, she really did, and as she gripped the fabric of his shirt in her hands and stared into his gleaming eyes she realized hate wasn't the only emotion swirling inside of her. Naruto wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her incredibly close, relishing the feel of her just simply breathing against him. "I'd do anything for you," he whispered into her hair. "You can tell me anything. You can trust me." He rubbed soothing circles across her spine. "I love you."

She whimpered into his shoulder. For the life of her, she wanted to tell him everything. But she was scared. Revealing the fact that she was hearing the voice of the man who undoubtedly ruined her life would probably not settle well. Naruto was correct in his assertion: she _was_ very sick. She knew that hearing things was never a good sign, but she couldn't have Naruto think any lower of her than he already did. He had accepted her even after she'd broken his heart, and she didn't want to top being crazy onto her pile of flaws. Not now, not ever. So she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him to her as if he was the very oxygen she breathed. She inhaled his scent, smiling as he snuggled his head into the slope of her neck and shoulder and placed a small, soft kiss to the skin there.

"I love you so much," he said again.

Tenshi pulled back, threading her fingers through his hair shortly before she sighed and kissed his waiting lips. He thought he would hear her traditional answer of, "I know," but instead she smiled and mumbled, "Okay."

"Okay…?" he repeated slowly. She nodded twice. "I…care about you."

He swallowed, a bit disappointed, and kissed her forehead. "Do you want to know a secret?" he asked and glanced at her. Tenshi frowned for a moment, but voiced a small affirmation. Naruto smiled, sitting her on the bed and following close behind. He cleared his throat and remembered a voice he could never get out of his head.

"_Find her, Naruto. Find her and never let her go." _

He picked up Tenshi's hand and kissed the back of it. "When my mother died," he started slowly, "she made me promise her that I would be happy no matter what. The night before she died, she had a dream that I was in trouble and an angel saved me. She said the angel was so beautiful that a light covered her face and the only thing you could see was long, dark hair." He took a large breath. "I always thought my mom was just a hopeless romantic, you know? But she kept telling me over and over that when I found the angel that I was to love her and keep her forever…because she would save me." He smiled—one-hundred watt and beautiful. "We would save each other."

Tenshi's eyes widened when she saw his gloss over with unshed tears. He gave her hand another kiss. "You're my angel," he whispered. "_That's_ why I came after you in Red Heart. _That's_ why I can't let you leave me." He leaned over and pecked the round of her shoulder, looking up into her eyes. They were wide, frightened. "I need you," he finished, "and you need me even more."

Tenshi finally broke.

"Naruto," she sobbed and embraced him, knocking him to his back on the bed. He held her waist and caressed her sides gently, blinking back his own tears.

"I swear I'll never let anyone hurt you again, Tenshi. I swear on my mother's grave that I'll kepp you safe."

She pulled her face up, clumsily meshing their lips and kissing the length of his neck before she placed her head on his shoulder and stared up at him. "Thank you," she forced out, virtually breathless and tightened her arms him.

Somewhere in those moments of confessions and skin, when their clothes were lazily pulled off and she was underneath his naked form, her legs wound around him and his breath against her ear, she realized this was everything Okaa-san had wanted but failed to get. This was security, this was freedom, and this was _happiness_. Sasuke _was_ wrong and as Tenshi raked her nails down Naruto's back, listening to him murmur repeatedly that he loved her, she understood where the missing puzzle pieces of her heart went. She put them in the right places, one by one, and saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

She loved him. She loved Uzumaki Naruto. She loved him with every fiber, nerve, cell, tissue, and bone in her human body. She loved him with every ounce of her soul. She loved him more than she'd ever loved anything in her entire life and this was, as much as it hurt her, the truth.

She loved him. She knew that much.

Now all she had to do was say it.

* * *

**Um. So, hi. First off, I'd like to thank any and everyone who has ever given this story the time of day. Granted, sometimes I feel like it's a piece of shit work, so it means so much when you guys drop a review or PM me saying how much you like it. I know I broke my promise, but writer's block and school does affect the best of us, and I am no exception. **

**I can't say when the next chapter will be coming out, so I hope you guys liked this one. I worked really hard on it, so I hope it'll suffice. Once again, thank you so much for all your reviews; they really, truly do motivate me to continue and I will NEVER stop writing this until it is complete. Now, _that,_ I can promise. **

**So here we go: **

**vicucha: **Hmm, Sakura and Sasuke together? Maybe…

**Shoma: **And I love you.

**It'sMontastic:** Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I'm working really hard and I will not disappoint you. I hope you liked this chapter!

**FF8ceberus: **Hopefully this cleared some things up for you and, as you can see, Tenshi is letting down her guard. Thanks so much!

**KitElizaKing: **Yes, I agree. They are adults and coming in terms with their mistakes is something most adults never do in their lifetime.

**Gamakage: **Thank you so much!

**trinity456: **Thank you! I hope there are some real life Narutos out there!

**InuKag4everbabe:** I will never give up on this! Thanks for reviewing!

**thisismynewpennamegreatisntit:** I really appreciate your review. Thank you for taking the time to do so!

**Hime-Love-97: **I know, they're so pitiful…

**Vanishing-cat: **Thank you!

**mikethepokemaster:** Never gonna give up! :)

** . .Story:** Hope you liked this chapter!

**kenni no. 1: **Yep, I agree, Orochimaru is a pretty nasty character.

**naruhinalltheway:** I hope you can review more! And thank you for your suggestion; I will definitely take it into account.

**izzybell117: **Hope you liked it!

**Mos ad Interficio: **I hope you liked this chapter better than the last one! Thanks for the review!

**Naruhinatard: **Thank you so much, love.

**HinataRevolution123: **We'll see! ;)

And as I'm writing these responses, I have now realized that it will be much easier to do review responses privately, so that is what I will do from now on! Every review will be returned with a response, and I hope you guys liked it! Don't give up on me! Until next time!


	21. 20: Get Out Alive

**Get Out Alive **by** Three Days Grace **

**Note: **Is everyone aware that "tenshi" is Japanese for "angel" in English? Just making sure…

* * *

_If you wanna get out alive  
__Run for your life._

**.20.  
****as she faded away**

Sari watched Gaara as he sat on the couch, cradling his head in his hands, stiff like a board. It had been at least an hour since she'd last seen him move from that position. Swiping her tongue across her teeth, she sat beside him on the next cushion, bouncing a few times to get his attention.

He didn't move.

She sighed, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. "Gaara, it isn't really a hard decision. We either go or we don't."

"I'm still thinking," he responded gruffly. She let out a small breath, pleased to hear his voice. The decision about whether or not to go to Tokyo and collect Matsuri had literally been torturing him for two whole weeks. He had pondered about it since Sari had confessed what exactly had become of them once they'd left the island of Hokkaido and wandered to the Butterfly House. Gaara knew it was extremely important that he got Matsuri out of there and back home with him where she belonged, but he was…scared.

His demons lived in Tokyo; Tenshi, the memory of his father, and that snake, Orochimaru. What would become of his sanity if he were to ever run into one of them?

"Gaara," Sari whispered beside him. She scooted closer until their hips touched. "Please. I…I miss her."

He pulled his head up slightly to rest his mouth against his knuckles. His eyes were tired and glazed. "What if she doesn't want to see me?" he mumbled. "What if she won't talk to me?"

Sari shook her head. The entire hoax with Matsuri's parents, of course, had scarred her, but Sari knew Matsuri would never turn down the chance of seeing Gaara. "She loves you," Sari reminded him. "You know that. She loves you more than anything else in the world."

He glanced at her, his heart taking up a quicker beat before it returned to its normal pace. "Are you sure of that?"

She grinned, laughing a bit. "Are you _kidding_? I'm fucking positive. She would never shut up about you when we were younger."

Gaara swallowed, nodding his head once. Going to Tokyo wouldn't be all bad, he supposed. His brother Kankurō had recently returned from the United States and had been asking to meet with him. Kankurō and his flourishing computer software company had attracted attention amongst Tokyo's greatest business partners. Since Gaara co-owned, he was obligated to attend the meetings and conferences and support his brother. Along with that, he had his _own_ company affairs to handle. Getting Matsuri back would only be a bonus, and he couldn't risk losing her again.

"When do you want to leave?" he asked Sari, holding back a small smile when her face lit up.

"Tomorrow," she said.

He stood. "We should pack."

* * *

Two weeks.

Two whole weeks had passed since Sasuke's birthday. Two whole weeks had passed since Tenshi had admitted to herself that she loved Naruto.

Since then, she had taken to spending more time with him than usual. She found herself always wanting to be near him. She needed to feel his skin, his lips—anything that let her know he was real and he was hers. Love was a very scary thing; once one realizes that they have fallen into its net, it becomes difficult to climb out of it. But after a while, they stop trying to release themselves from its hold, and instead entangle themselves in its web.

And Tenshi had been doing just that.

Naruto had become the living embodiment of life and she couldn't get enough. Every day she woke up with a smile and every night she fell asleep in his arms. It was almost as if her heart wasn't satisfied with the rhythm of its own beating anymore; like the only way she felt alive was when they were chest to chest and his warmth was her warmth. Tenshi didn't exactly appreciate her new-found need for human affection and constant touch of skin. Instead, she almost wished she had never realized she'd fallen in love.

Almost.

However, she was not entirely alone in her dilemma. She had taken to visiting Kakashi more often. Even though he was quite strange and a little unorthodox, Tenshi found his sense of humor—or lack of—refreshing. He was the only one who knew her secret, and telling him had been, surprisingly, an easy task. Kakashi was the sort of person who never spoke while one was speaking. Rather, he simply leaned back against his chair, placed one hand against his cloth-covered chin and narrowed his one visible eye. Then he listened. He listened so hard and carefully that Tenshi felt like she could whisper with her head down, hand over her mouth, and he would still hear every single word she uttered.

That was the worst part.

A listener could be a killer. While Tenshi talked and cried and apologized for everything she'd done or would inevitably do to Naruto and his heart, Kakashi never interrupted, never changed facial expressions, and never told her what he _thought_ she should do. Many times he would just touch her shoulder or nod, and then he would say, "Is that how you feel?"

And then she would frown, a little upset, and bite back, "_Yes_."

One particular occasion had occurred just two days prior. Naruto had dropped her off for her thirty-five minute session while he visited Nara Shikamaru. She had strolled along to room 342, opening the door and waiting patiently in the small sitting room connected to his office. Like he did the three times before this visit, he had not shown up until two hours later, but she had already expected this and had bought along fourteen magazines to read. When Kakashi did finally show, he was in his usual attire: dark, old jeans, sneakers, and a beat-down, dark green T-shirt. Along with that was the cloth over his face and the eye patch.

"Tenshi," he'd said when he walked in before closing the door behind him. "Something I can help you with?"

On more than one instance she wanted to ask if she could see his license for counseling.

Sighing, she'd stood and swiped her hair behind her ear. When she had first visited him after chopping it all off, he hadn't said anything until their session was over, but what he did say nearly made her want to punch the nearest object closet to her—preferably his face.

"_You look quite different, you know. Nose job?" _

Tenshi had shook her head as that memory came back, staring at Kakashi with slightly narrowed eyes. "We have an appointment."

He had snapped his fingers, genuinely seeming surprised. "That's right! Well, please excuse my tardiness. I single-handedly stopped a bank robbery on my way here."

She had wanted to snap at him, but she found herself laughing. Last time he'd been in a terrible car accident between two eighteen-wheelers.

Despite the fact that he was blatantly lying, Tenshi had nodded and watched as he unlocked the door to his office. She had walked in after him, closing it behind her and sitting in the blue loveseat in front of his stool. He'd slouched in it, back arching inward. She'd made a face.

_Terrible posture. _

"So," Kakashi had droned. He'd waited a few seconds before picking up that God-forsaken orange book, his thumb pressed in the middle of it to keep the page he was on. "How are you?"

She'd crossed her legs, absently twiddling her thumbs and pushing her index fingers together. It was a new, yet somehow fitting habit she'd found herself doing. "Fine. Yourself?"

"What was that?" He had been too engrossed in his novel.

"Nothing."

"How is Naruto?"

She'd smiled, feeling her stomach clench. "He's fine too, I think."

"You're glowing."

"W-What?" She'd instinctively brought her hands to her face, groaning quietly when her fingertips met hot, flushed skin. Kakashi really liked to embarrass her.

He'd brought the book so close it was practically touching his nose. "You're glowing," he'd repeated. "So there must be some new developments."

"N-No—"

"Are you pregnant?"

She'd wanted to vomit. "Of _course_ not!"

"Is Naruto?"

"I _beg_ your pardon?"

"There is something quite different about you, Tenshi. So. Spill." He'd then closed the book, and she couldn't help but stare into his one visible eye. Her face had felt like it was on fire, and she was self-consciously clutching her abdomen. Pregnant. He had to be a fool.

She'd swallowed, taken a breath, and then asked, "W-Why do you wear an eye patch?"

Kakashi grinned through his cloth. "Why not?"

_Oh, my God. _"I'm in love with him," she'd professed. Just like that, and her crazed doctor had somehow wound a confession out of her.

They passed the next twenty minutes discussing _why_ Tenshi loved Naruto, and Kakashi had put away his novel and listened. When she was out of breath and teary-eyed, he had muttered, "Tell him."

"I-I…can't."

"And why is that?"

Kakashi knew many things about her. He knew that she used to be a prostitute; he knew that she'd slept with Sasuke, he knew of her dislike of Sakura, and now he knew of her love for Naruto. But it ended there. She had yet to give up some of the most important pieces of her life. Orochimaru, her father, her mother, her life living in the Snake Room, and even her abortion were still secrets between them. And because he knew nothing of those things, she figured he would never understand why she couldn't tell Naruto how she felt. She would kill him. Anyone and anything that she let into her heart always either died or left. She could count the list off her twenty fingers and toes, and she refused—_refused_—to add Naruto onto it. Not telling him would protect him, protect _them_.

"I just can't," she'd said, crossing her arms. "He doesn't need to know anyway."

Kakashi had rubbed his chin, took a hand through his unruly silver hair, and picked his book back up. He had then rolled around on his stool, flipping a few pages. "What makes you think he doesn't already know?" And then he'd smiled. "Our time's up."

Tenshi could remember that day very well, and after Naruto had picked her up and taken her to get ice cream, she'd wallowed in bed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Did he know? _Could_ he know?

Since then she'd been extra paranoid, and as she sat on the sofa in the living room, watching television, all she could do was _think_.

And thinking is always dangerous.

Sighing, she stood up to turn the station on the TV, regretting that she'd shattered the remote. Naruto came in from the kitchen a few minutes later, shirtless, his sweat pants hanging low on his hips. She stared as he sat beside her, the mail in his hands. "Bills, bills, bills…" he muttered, flipping through until one caught his eye. "Holy shit," he said and Tenshi's brows furrowed.

"What?" she asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"It's a letter."

She bit her lip. Letters were _bad_. The last time Naruto had received a letter, Sasuke had shown up on their doorstop and all hell had broken loose.

"From who?" she whispered.

"One of my father's friends. Name's Jiraiya." He opened it up, taking out one sheet of paper. Strangely, it was typed and not hand-written. Naruto slowly read through it, licking his lips. A few more seconds passed and then he jumped up, crunching the paper in two fists and gasping, "_What the fucking hell_?"

Tenshi was right beside him, reaching from behind his waist to grab the paper. "What? What is it? Let me see!"

"Wait a sec," he said, finishing the rest and then tossing it to the couch, cursing and throwing his arm over his eyes. "I am _beyond_ fucked." He threw himself back against the sofa.

She took the letter in her hands, skimming over the words, and then she too made a small noise of disapproval. "How does he know about that?" she wondered. Naruto _tsked. _"I got one good fucking clue! It had to be Kakashi; he's the only one that knows!"

Jiraiya had mentioned in his letter that he knew of some recent hostility between Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke over a "very lovely, very beautiful, very vivacious woman". Tenshi had blinked a few times at the last adjective, but went on to read that Jiraiya felt as though some regrouping was needed and an upcoming business meeting was, fortunately, approaching and could help them do just that.

Naruto had not seen Jiraiya in four years, but the man was a very critical puzzle piece in his life. Naruto's father and Jiraiya had built a very successful logistics service company together which had made billions in profits. When Naruto's father died, Jiraiya had continued the company by himself for about a year before he decided to put it to the side and write novels. The money from the company is what bought Naruto two houses and kept food in his refrigerator, but he had never taken interest in taking up the company. Some may have called it lazy, but running his father's shipping business just wasn't his cup of tea. It was spokespersons and executives of Jiraiya's who were supposed to handle the conference calls and meetings, not Naruto himself. But, apparently, that had changed.

"How does Jiraiya know Kakashi?" Tenshi asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "They've been friends for awhile because they both knew my dad. That, and Jiraiya is the author of the _Icha Icha_ series."

"The _what_?"

"I'm sure you've seen Kakashi reading those orange books?"

She rubbed her forehead in realization. "That…makes sense."

"I bet Jiraiya promised him the whole fucking series if he gave me a reason to come to this damn meeting."

Tenshi frowned. Whatever happened to patient-doctor confidentiality?

She chewed on her bottom lip, turning her attention back to the piece of paper in her hand, skimming over the company name in the letter. Uchiha Corporations, another small logistics company, had taken interest in making a contract deal with the Uzumaki name. From what Jiraiya was saying, he was in another country and would not be able to attend the meeting. Unfortunately as well, his partners could not go without him or someone of the Uzumaki name, so that left Naruto as the only option. Tenshi quirked her mouth at another name, one she immediately recognized. Her brows furrowed tight, her finger touching the slightly smudged ink. "Sabaku," she muttered. Naruto glanced at her. "Yeah, I know. The Sabakus are, like, the biggest name out there. They probably wanna buy my dad's company…"

Tenshi put the letter on her thigh, her forehead breaking out into a light sweat. She knew the Sabaku name from her friend, Temari. But maybe it was coincidence. Maybe it was nothing.

"Do you know who in the Sabaku family will be there?" she croaked, trying to keep her voice steady. Naruto was too stressed to notice. "I figure it'll be Sabaku Gaara. He owns the company Jiraiya's yapping about."

Tenshi's eyes closed so tightly she saw stars. The boy in the picture she'd seen in Acid. His name was Gaara. Her throat felt as if she'd swallowed some of Akiku's cat litter. Turning her face, she swept her hand through her short hair and let go of a shaky breath. It could've all been chance. There were probably a million Gaaras and a million Sabakus all over the _world_. It meant nothing—she was sure—so she kept it to herself. Naruto began to bite the skin at the back of his finger, a frown on his otherwise beautiful face. Tenshi turned back to face him and found herself staring. Because she knew that she loved him now, she had discovered little things about him physically that she otherwise never would have noticed.

For instance, she could see a small, thin scar right beside his left eye that he must've gotten when he was younger. A couple of nights ago when they were in the bedroom, skin against skin, she'd realized with complete fascination that the bridge of his nose was peppered with little freckles. There were only about six or seven of them, but they were there. That morning when she'd woken up against his chest and he'd kissed her, she could feel how his bottom lip curved perfectly into hers, and that his hands were big enough to cup around her waist.

_Oh, God, I'm doing it again… _

She rubbed her eyes, looking away and then saying, "You should go."

Naruto's head snapped to her. "What did you say?"

"The meeting. You should go."

He shook his head. "I don't know anything about this. I don't know how to make business deals."

She picked the letter back up. "Jiraiya gave you the contacts of his partners. They can talk; all you have to do is show up."

He took the letter from her hand and tilted his head. "Sasuke will be there."

Her eyes widened a fraction before she crawled closer to him, putting her arm behind his back and caressing the warm, smooth skin of his side. "Do you remember what you told me?" she whispered, her mouth placed slightly against his shoulder. She pressed a small kiss there when he turned his head down to look at her.

"About what?" he said in a soft, comforting tone.

"About forgiveness. You said we're all humans and we make mistakes, but we should forgive each other." She reached up to pinch his cheek. "Practice what you preach."

Much to her delight, he laughed and kissed her palm. "I'll…do my best."

She paused for a moment, staring into his eyes. "I only want you, you know," she said, almost as an afterthought. "I'll always only want you."

His lips pulled upwards at the corners. "I know."

"So you'll go?"

"Do I have a choice?"

She smiled, but it withered a little as Gaara came back into her mind. On one hand, she wanted it to be him so she could rekindle and finally put her past behind her. On the other hand, she prayed it wasn't, only so Naruto wouldn't have to be put in an uncomfortable, tense situation. It would be bad enough with Sasuke there.

Naruto grabbed the back of Tenshi's neck and kissed her hard, earning a small, dulcet moan from her. He grinned when she wrapped her arms around him, his kisses making a hot trail down her neck. He'd just gotten her on her back when a phone rang, its high shrill making both of them groan.

Naruto glanced around for a moment, spotting his cell phone on the coffee table. He easily leaned over Tenshi, squinting to catch the name flashing on the screen.

"Shikamaru," he said.

She blinked. "Tell him to fuck off."

"Oh!" Naruto suddenly dashed for the phone, flipping it open. "Hold on," he told Shikamaru before putting the phone to his bare chest and meeting Tenshi's glare. "He works for Sasuke," he explained. "He can help with this whole meeting thing."

She nearly rolled her eyes, laying back down with her arms behind her head. "Fine," she muttered. "But hurry back."

Naruto winked, placing the phone back to his ear. "I need some advice, asshole," he started, treading up the stairs. Still hot and bothered, Tenshi stood to turn the channel on the television, sighing when she discovered nothing was on. Her arm began to ache from remaining suspended in the air as she pressed the small, touch-activated button on the flat screen, so she eventually settled on the news. For a moment she stood there, watching as a male reporter began to discuss the kidnappings of those three damned three little girls. The man looked grim, shaking his head as he droned, _"From inspection, it appears that Kuroki Hisano and Nakajima Riku—who are five and seven—were both kidnapped from an orphanage sixteen miles away from Hitomi Beach near downtown Rakuen." _

Tenshi gasped, springing back and falling against the sofa. Tears filled her eyes.

"_However, Tanaka Yoko, who is only three, was allegedly taken from a shopping market while her mother was attempting to buy narcotics outside the market. Yoko's mother has been confirmed as a heroine-addict and has confessed to have taken part in illegal prostitution. She is now in question—"_

Shaking, Tenshi ran to the television, turning it off and feeling the tears slip passed her face. The first thing she thought of was Hitomi Beach, the same beach Kurenai had taken her to while her mother was seeing Hyūga Hiashi. Tenshi felt like she would be sick, holding her quivering stomach and feeling her forehead sweat. She wiped a few of her tears, thinking of those children. _It's him, _she thought. _He has those girls. He's going to kill them like he did me. _For a brief moment, a small part of her tried to convince a larger part of her that this, like Gaara and Temari, was just another coincidence, and whoever kidnapped Hisano, Yoko, and Riku had nothing to do with Orochimaru.

But she knew better.

"What do I do?" she whispered to herself. "Jesus, one of them is fucking _three_." She felt her stomach jump and clench at the thought of little Yoko, rushing to the nearest bathroom and heaving over the toilet seat. When she was done emptying the contents of her belly, she looked into the mirror, splashing her face with cool water and taking even breaths. She wondered if the three girls were pretty; if Orochimaru had changed their names to match their faces.

Closing her eyes and attempting to clear her head, Tenshi brushed her teeth, pushing her damp bangs from her forehead. When she was halfway calm, she walked out the bathroom and trotted upstairs. She saw Naruto chatting and joking with Shikamaru over the phone in the den, but she didn't even bother getting his attention. For the first time in two weeks, she wanted to be alone. Sniffing, she entered their bedroom and opened the walk-in closet, heading to the very back of it and getting down her knees. On the floor under a load of folded clothes was the fluffy, blue blanket Tenten had given her. She smiled when she touched it before reaching between its folds and pulling out her rosary.

Tenshi licked her lips as she fingered the small jewels on it. She placed it around her neck, going back to the blanket and lifting it. Gaara's picture was there, taped messily back together after Naruto had ripped it to shreds. She didn't mind that it wasn't in perfect condition; she only needed to remember the blood-red hair and cyan eyes.

For a few minutes she sat on the floor, twirling the rosary and praying to whatever god that would listen in hopes that someone—anyone—would save those little girls.

_But no one saved me. _

She cradled her head in her hands, but managed to pull herself together by the time Naruto had ended his conversation. By then, her tears had dried and she had come to the conclusion that she wouldn't breathe a word of her worries to him, wanting to protect him at all costs. So she allowed his body to become her temporary solution, but when it was over, she was left more tormented and troubled than ever before.

* * *

Haruno Sakura groaned as she entered Rakuen, wondering why in the world she had decided driving an _hour_ to any location would be a good idea. She was exhausted as she made her way into the downtown section, easily remembering the instructions Sai had given her.

Eventually, the streets Red Heart was supposed to be located on came into view, but she did not see a caramel-colored building with large, mahogany doors. On the contrary, there was a tall pile of burnt, black rubble—the remains of a building destroyed by fire. Sakura paled, parking her car in an unmarked spot and getting out, rushing up to the remains of what was surely Red Heart. She instantly became crestfallen, bringing her hand to her forehead and sighing. "Shit," she cursed.

"Hey! Hey, lady!"

Frowning, she looked over her shoulder, her stance becoming defensive as Sai's words echoed through the back of her skull: _"For the love of God, Sakura, be careful. Rakuen is shady as fuck." _

There was an elderly man who appeared to be homeless sitting on the curb, surrounded by beautiful oil-paintings. With closer inspection, Sakura immediately recognized one of the works. She strode over to him, hands on her hips, and stared wide-eyed at a portrait that could only be Tenshi. Sai's own painting.

"Looking to buy?" the man asked, grinning. Both his two front teeth were gone.

"No, thanks," Sakura said impatiently. "Could you tell me what happened here?"

The old man's face went morbid. "Some asshole burned it down a couple of weeks ago. Real shame, too. Great pussy they had in there."

She shivered, ignoring his last comment. Cracking her knuckles, she bent and pointed to the picture of Tenshi; eyes closed, lips red, and black hair fanned about her. "Do you know that girl?"

"Sure do! Not personally, 'course, but such a pretty thing, ain't she? Tenshi…"

"What about the other girls?" The man had at least four more portraits. There was one of girl draped in a purple gown that had long, blonde hair that caught Sakura's eye. For a moment the female in the painting looked familiar, but she forgot about it when the old man spoke up. "They all went to the Butterfly House, they did. Trying to get themselves together. Real shame, too, ya know. Great pu—"

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura spat. She still had a window, it seemed. "Do you know where the Butterfly House is?"

He brought a hand to his chin, but then shook his head. "No, ma'am, I can't say that I do. But you are _mighty_ pretty. Why don't you stay here and spend a little time with me?"

Sakura glared. "I don't think so."

"C'mon, doll, I don't bite."

Just as she was about to tell him what he _could_ bite, a large hand was placed on her shoulder. She spun around quickly, coming face-to-face with a man who had silver hair pulled back in a low ponytail and glasses. Around his neck was a purple scarf. Sakura blushed a bit. "Is he giving you problems, dear?" he asked, gently squeezing her shoulder. The homeless man glared, turning up his nose. Sakura sighed as the man with the scarf began to lead her away from the burned, crumbling building to stand in front of a nearby café. "You really shouldn't go asking people like that for directions, sweetheart," he said kindly, releasing her.

Sakura reddened. "Oh, yes. Well, I wasn't asking for directions actually."

"No?"

She shook her head. "I was wondering what became of Red Heart."

He nodded solemnly. "Burned to the ground, I'm afraid."

"So I heard."

He smiled, closed-mouthed. "Is that all? May I ask why so interested in a _brothel_ of all places?"

She looked past his glasses into his dark eyes. "I was seeing if someone there could tell me about Tenshi."

His brow rose. "Tenshi? Do you know her?"

Sakura nodded, glancing down. She didn't notice his smirk. "We're…uh, friends. But we had a bit of a falling out and…I remembered her telling me she had some other friends she missed. I thought maybe I could get them to sign a card for her or-or something, but—"

"But the other girls are gone," he finished. "They've relocated to the Butterfly House. It mentors young girls trying to get off the street, you see."

Sakura crossed her arms and gave a quick smile. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name."

He looked abashed. "Oh, forgive me. How rude. I'm Kabuto. And yourself?" He held out his hand and she slowly reached out to take it. "Sakura."

"Very beautiful," he mumbled as he pressed her knuckles to his lips. "So you're looking for the Butterfly House?"

"Yes. Would you happen to know where it is? Tenshi would really love if I did this for her."

Kabuto pocketed his hands, a cool look on his face. "How kind of you, love."

Sakura offered one of her fake grins, a little put off by his calculating eyes.

"Well, fortunately for you, my dear, I know where the House is. But I must ask that you let me take you out for a bite to eat first." Kabuto pointed to the café they were close to. "You are very beautiful and it is not often I am blessed with such company."

Sakura flushed, but then glanced away warily. _"Rakuen is shady as fuck." _

_Oh, Sai, hush. You overreact. _Plus, she needed those directions.

"Sure," she chirped, and walked with him into the café. For an hour or so they sat and talked, Tenshi's name coming up a few times. Kabuto seemed very well put together and gentlemanly, something Sakura greatly appreciated. When they were done eating, he gave her the directions to the Butterfly House as he'd promised, jotting them down on a napkin with a pen. "I wish you luck, dear," he said softly, passing it to her. She smiled and tipped her head. "Thank you." It was then that she had a mind to ask about the Snake Room, to see if he knew where it was as well, but he spoke before she could get her questions together.

"Will you go today?" he asked.

She bit her lip, reading his neat handwriting. "No. I'll come back next week. My work schedule is getting pretty hectic and this might take more than an hour." She peeked back up at him, seeing his curved mouth and prepared to leave. She stood, thanking him again, and with a wave and another smile, Sakura bounded out of the café and got into her car as Kabuto watched. He waited until her vehicle disappeared from view before he pulled out a cell phone, dialing a number and grinning like a madman when a sleek, crisp voice answered on the other line.

"Good news," Kabuto voiced quietly into receiver. "We've found her. And she's got a friend."

* * *

**I got a feeling some crazy shit's about to go down. Thanks a ton for reading and the spectacular reviews! For you guys, I tried not to take forever to update and made the chapter extra long! Love you! Now we gotta respond to our guest reviewers! **

**Guest: **Haha, thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

**naruhinalltheway: **Yep, Tenshi finally came to realize she's head-over-heels!

**A: **Will do! Thanks so much!

**Jennifer: **Wow, thank you! Adapting the characters is the best part. It's not always too fun, but once I get there, I think it makes the story line more believable. Glad you like it!

**Guest (2): **Ooh, sorry! Personally, I've never had anyone go off on me for cheating and/or running away, so I tried to make it as realistic as possible! Thank you for the feedback, though, I appreciate it!

**Lawrencetheboss: **Your review made me feel very tingly all over! I'm not saying I'm happy I made you cry, but it does make me happy that my little fan fiction can bring that kind of response out of a sophomore in college! Whatever you went through must've been hard if you can relate to this tragic tale, so I am sorry for that. But thank you so much for the feedback.

**See you guys soon! **


	22. 21: Paranoid

**Papercut **by** Linkin Park**

* * *

_The sun goes down,  
__I feel the light betray me._

**.21.  
****paranoid**

Uchiha Sasuke read over the documents in his hands, his thin, dark brows pulling together. Beside him sat three representatives, two Japanese and one American, all of which were staring at his profile with tight lips and wrung hands. They'd rather spend an eternity in hell than suffer from a lashing—which Sasuke was infamous for doing—so when a vein in his temple raised to the top of the skin and throbbed, they all held their breaths.

However, Sasuke simply put the papers down in front of him, interlaced his long fingers, and sighed.

"Sir?" the American asked. Andrews was his name. "Sir, are you alright with this?"

Sasuke scowled. His accent was annoying.

"As long as our company is getting its share cut, Jiraiya and Uzumaki can do whatever the hell they please."

Andrews glanced down and then looked at the other two representatives who eyed Sasuke curiously. "When would you like to meet?" one of them asked. Sasuke's fingers clenched around each other at the thought of Naruto.

"As soon as possible. Preferably tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir."

"Call up Jiraiya and confirm it."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Downtown Rakuen wasn't all bad. Of course, there were the whore houses, the drug rings, and the many people willing to do anything for a little bit of money in their pocket. But downtown Rakuen wasn't all bad. Yuhi Kurenai had built the thriving refuge known as the Butterfly House, where she sheltered about forty to sixty girls and young women. She had made it her sole duty in life to house, clothe, and feed the girls that had once been like her.

The Butterfly House was a four-story building, large and heavily appealing on both the inside and out. Kurenai had obtained the money through both donations and years of hard work. Her philanthropic activity had gained attention all over Tokyo and many important people had made sure that the House would stay up and running for a long time.

Here, Ino, Temari, Tenten had found a place they could call home and not internally cringe.

After Red Heart had been burned to the ground, Tsunade had skipped town and no one had seen or heard of her since. Tenten had speculation that Kabuto had been the arsonist, but the police had been unable to find prints, clues, or anything that would lead them to a potential suspect. Tenten had been livid—and ready to have her chance to beat the living shit out of Kabuto—but Temari had insisted that the burning down of Red Heart had only helped them for the better.

They were free. No longer were they giving themselves to strange men, but living peacefully amongst others just like them. Although not every girl who had worked under Tsunade changed their ways, Tenten, Ino, and Temari had stuck together and decided that they would leave that old life behind. They did it for themselves and for Tenshi, who they had worried about since her departure.

Ino sat in she and Temari's room, pulling a brush through her long hair. She winced as it caught a couple of knots, sighing in gratitude when Temari took the brush from her hands and gently raked it down her scalp to her lower back where the pale strands ended. Tenten was sprawled out on the floor on the other side of the room, a magazine across her face as she softly snored.

"What a cow," Ino mumbled, receiving a small tap to the back of her head with the brush. "Be nice," Temari scolded.

Ino and Tenten could barely spend ten minutes in the same space without trying to kill each other. It seemed that even her sleep, Tenten somehow found a way to get under Ino's skin.

Temari played mediator, as always, keeping the two from gouging each other's eyes out.

Ino's nose scrunched as she stared at Tenten. "I still can't believe he's fucking her."

Temari frowned. "Who, Neji? Why not?"

"Look at the little pig! I mean, he never once looked _my_ way…"

"Ino—"

"Really, though. What's she got that I haven't?"

Temari squeezed Ino's shoulders. "I think you're just jealous that Ten has a boyfriend and you're going to be single for the next twenty years."

Ino laughed loudly, shaking Tenten out of her sleep. "_Puh_-lease!" she said. "If that little bitch can get a dick to fuck her nasty snatch I'm sure I can get a steady fuck, too."

Tenten groaned from her spot on the floor. "Screw you," she grumbled sleepily. "And he's not just a steady fuck, you know."

"Yeah? What would you call it?"

Tenten looked away. She and Neji's relationship was beyond complicated; a prime example of love at the wrong time. But she had fallen, and fallen hard, and Neji felt the same way. He wanted her to move in with him when Red Heart had met its end, but Tenten knew she would never be able to maintain a stable, healthy life with him if she didn't prioritize herself first. She told Neji he would have to wait until she got herself together, but that didn't stop his weekly visits to the House in order to spend quality time with her.

"We just aren't official yet," Tenten answered calmly. Ino rolled her eyes."You're a fucking whore and he's gorgeous. He should dump you and get a woman who knows what she's doing in the bedroom. Like me."

Tenten smiled, used to Ino's insults and jabs. Temari shook her head.

"Maybe," Tenten said, "but I think you've spread your STD's to enough poor souls, don't you think?"

Ino reddened. "Tenten, you bitch! That was _one time_ and _he_ gave _me_ crabs!"

"Keep telling yourself that!"

"Fuck you, you little cow!"

"Fuck _you_, you stupid cunt!"

Ino lunged with a growl, toppling Tenten and wrestling for dominance. Temari seriously considered just letting them have at it. Perhaps once they worked a good fight out their system they could call a truce. She started to sit back down on her bed, but when Tenten wound Ino's hair into a fist and proceeded to slam her face into the nearest dresser, Temari realized she would have to take action. "Hey!" she shouted, roughly taking Tenten's wrists and pinning them behind her back. When Ino fell loose, free from the grip, she attempted to claw at Tenten's face, but a swift kick to her gut from Temari sent her back to the floor.

The three of them took a moment to catch their breaths, chests heaving and clothes and hair in extreme disarray.

Ino was the first to crack a smirk. "You're such a bitch, Tenten," she muttered.

Tenten smiled back, a genuine one that Ino—though she would rather die than admitting it—thought was pretty.

Tenten opened her mouth to retort when the speakers around their room sounded and Kurenai's serene voice echoed in all their ears.

"_Good morning, girls. If everyone would come to the meeting room for discussion and breakfast in about five minutes, that'd be great. Thank you." _

"Alright," Temari said, heaving Tenten up. "Let's go downstairs for the meeting."

"Fine," she said, making sure to press her foot into the back of Ino's head, as the blonde was still sitting on the floor. Ino growled, fixing her hair, but stood up to walk with Tenten and Temari to the meeting room. There was large, long table situated in the room along with smaller, round tables with chairs pushed up to them. Girls were already seated, eating breakfast and talking happily amongst each other. Tenten smiled and waved, kissing a few friends on the cheek as she asked everyone how their morning was going.

Kurenai made her way through the crowd then, asking the girls to quiet down so that their morning discussion could take place. She sat at the head of the table and smiled gently, looking upon all the young faces with broken hearts. She was proud of what she had done for these girls, and even though the healing process could be slow and painstaking, she knew their insides were slowly melding back together. Kurenai used her own life experiences in order to teach a lesson to the younger girls, and her words of wisdom always dug into them somewhere deep.

However, she hadn't told anyone about Hinata—the most broken soul she knew—only because one day she wanted her to come to the Butterfly House and tell her story herself.

"Alright," Kurenai said, clapping. "Does anyone want to share what they did or learned this week?"

Ino's hand shot up into the air.

"Yes, Ino?"

She sat up straight and nodded her heads towards Tenten. "I learned that Tenten is a no-good, desperate bitch."

Kurenai sighed, her fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Yes, Ino. You learn that every week."

Working with the girls was hard at times, but Kurenai couldn't deny it was the best decision she'd ever made.

* * *

"Your portrait is stunning, Hanabi. In fact, I think it looks better than you do in real life."

"Shut up, Neji."

Hyūga Neji laughed at his younger sister, his dark grey eyes crinkling at the corners. Although they were siblings, there were no striking features that connected them. While Neji's eyes were dark and deep, Hanabi's were so light grey they were nearly lavender. Both of them had brown hair, but Neji's was chocolate and Hanabi's was chestnut. While Neji looked like their beautiful mother, Hanabi resembled their father.

She looked at her portrait and cocked her head to the side, brushing hair behind her ear. She was a beautiful girl, and at the tender age of fourteen, she was already beginning to look like a young woman. This fact unnerved Neji like nothing else ever had. His sister was his entire world, and he'd be damned if anyone or anything ever took advantage of or hurt her.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm joking," he said softly. "You know you're very pretty."

Hanabi looked up at him with a smile. "Thanks, you brat." Elbowing him in the gut, she collected her picture and placed it neatly on the dining room table. Her father had promised he would find a nice spot in the house to hang it soon.

She swept her hands across the silver frame and chewed on her bottom lip. Neji noticed the nervous habit and squeezed her shoulder. "What's the matter?"

She shook her head. Since Hanabi had been a baby, she didn't often whine or fuss. As a little girl, she didn't cry much and many things did not bother her. She was almost impenetrable, like steel.

Like Hyūga Hiashi.

Of course, Neji was a strong soul, too, but Hanabi…

Hanabi was nearly lifeless when it came to emotion.

So Neji was more than surprised when she sniffled a little and wiped her eyes. "I was just wondering if Okaa-san would've liked it."

Her brother blinked in understanding. Their mother had passed when Hanabi was around seven-years-old and it had been a rough time for her. Although her mourning had taken place privately and without many tears, Neji knew she'd been suffering.

He grabbed her hand, leading her into the kitchen and sitting her down in one of the chairs. She closed her eyes, brushing her fingers through her hair. It was another habit that she had picked up.

He brought another chair around to sit in front of her, gripping her wrists and placing her hands on her lap. For a moment they stayed in that position, doing nothing but blinking, breathing, and thinking.

Finally, Neji squeezed her wrists. "I love you," he said quietly. "Okaa-san loved you."

Hanabi broke down into tears. "Then why did she leave me?" she asked, her entire body shaking.

He didn't have an answer, so he wrapped his arms around his sister and let her cry. Their mother hadn't just died, even though that's what everyone outside of their family thought.

Hyūga Kozakura had committed suicide by overdose and Hanabi hated her for it.

Neji grabbed either side of her face and thumbed away her tears. Her mouth was sucked of color and her cheeks were cold and hollow. He found himself thinking of Tenten. The day Red Heart burned to the ground he had begged her to move in with him, and at the request, the color of her skin had taken the same pallid shade as Hanabi's. His family had come from money, and he had inherited much of that wealth from his father. Although he did own his own place, he usually found himself with Hanabi at her and their father's home.

He had fallen for Tenten before he knew she was working for Tsunade, and when she'd finally told him, he only took the job as an errand boy to be closer to her. What Tsunade didn't know was that Tenten had refused any man that had come to her door and to ensure he remained quiet, Neji put in a word or two. Tenten wanted Neji to be the only one to have her ever again and he used that power to his advantage.

With her move to the Butterfly House, he had often wondered what had become of Tenshi. Every time he visited Tenten, he wanted to ask, but never did.

And she never mentioned it.

He could only assume that perhaps she had moved on elsewhere, but he hoped she was safe.

"Come now, Hanabi," he told his sister. "Everything is alright."

Hanabi nodded softly.

With another squeeze of her thin wrists, he brought her to her feet and walked back into the dining room. He shrugged her close as she took another look at her portrait. Neji stared at it with her, but when a strange sense of déjà vu invaded all of his senses and slithered down his spine, he nearly jumped, turning away from the painting and running his hand over his face.

Hanabi noticed his uneasiness and grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he said quickly. But something was wrong.

* * *

It had been six days since Sakura had eaten lunch with Kabuto and gotten the appropriate directions to the Butterfly House.

After the hour drive from Tokyo to Rakuen and some arguing with her GPS, she had finally made it to the large, beautiful building. She combed her fingers through her unruly hair, having just gotten off the clock from working. She walked up the steps, examining her surroundings, and then opened the door, seeing it was unlocked. When she entered, she saw an older woman sitting at a desk with papers stacked in front of her and a closed laptop in the corner.

She had black hair and light brown eyes, and when she noticed Sakura come in, she gave a warm smile.

"Hi. Would you like to check in with us today, sweetheart?"

Sakura felt her cheeks burn. "No, ma'am, sorry. I'm just visiting."

The woman's brow rose. "Oh? I've never seen you before. Who are you visiting?"

_Goddamn it. _"Well, you see…I, um…"

"Oh, honey," the woman cooed, rising from her seat to grab Sakura's hand. "We accept anyone here. If you want to check in, it's fine. Trust me, you're welcome here."

"No, you don't understand. I'm not a—"

"Nonsense." The woman touched the end strands of Sakura's pink hair. "I'm thinking a stripper?"

"I _beg_ your pardon?"

"Let's go." The woman ignored her pleas and dragged her through another door—which had been locked—and pushed her into the main room where there were three or four other girls lounging around.

"Kurenai went out to take care of a few errands, but she'll be back soon, dear. Make yourself comfortable."

"But, ma'am—"

The woman held up a hand, exiting the room and closing it behind her, locking it back from the outside.

Sakura sighed harshly, rolling her eyes. She swallowed, looking at the girls that were sitting in the room. She had no idea who would or who wouldn't know Tenshi, so she supposed she could just go up to one of the girls and kindly ask. As she prepared to walk forward, a wave of platinum blonde flashed by her eyes and she stepped back, her feet twisting at awkward angles. She couldn't hold her weight and ended up falling backwards on her ass.

"Oh!" a voice said above her. "I didn't see you there! Are you new? I'm so sorry, let me help you."

Sakura saw a white hand reach for hers and she allowed the other girl to pull her to her feet. The blonde hair came back into view, and as Sakura's eyes roamed over the long, pale legs, the jean shorts, and the baggy purple shirt, she couldn't help but feel bile rise into her throat. Upon meeting the face, she almost _did_ vomit.

"Yamanaka," she gasped.

Ino's smile slipped from her face. "Haruno?"

Sakura stared open-mouthed at Ino's turquoise eyes and full pink lips. Certainly she had grown beautiful.

But she was here, of all places.

"Haruno," Ino said again, a snarl this time. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Ino stuck her nose in the air and turned away.

Anyone who attended the same elementary school as Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura knew that they despised each other beyond reason. They had fought like cats and dogs and once Ino had pushed Sakura into an ant hill. They were dangerous when they were together, which was why Ino's parents had her move schools before they died.

The anger that bubbled into Sakura's gut faded as she gazed at Ino's hard features. "What happened to you, Ino?"

"As if you give two shits, you bitch," Ino bit back, attempting to walk away. Sakura hurried behind her and grabbed the back of shirt. "Please, stop," she said, her voice a shaky whisper. "I care. I swear to God, I care."

Ino's thin brows pulled together. "Sakura, why are you here? I know you're not a prostitute."

"Or a stripper."

"Shut up."

"Sorry."

Ino licked her lips. Sakura said, "I'm looking for Tenshi. Know her?"

"Tenshi? How the hell do you know Tenshi?"

"It's a long story, Ino. I mean a long, difficult, weird-as-fuck story."

Ino nodded and grabbed Sakura, heading towards an elevator and taking them up to the fourth floor where there was an entertainment room. Usually, in the late afternoon, girls went out or just chilled together in their rooms, so Ino knew it would be empty. She tugged Sakura into the large room and turned off the TV, sitting down in a beanbag and motioning for Sakura to follow suit.

Carefully, Sakura eased herself down, folding her legs together.

"Tell me," Ino started. "Is Tenshi safe? Is she okay? Is that man taking care of her?"

Sakura smiled softly. So Ino knew about Naruto. "Yes, he's taking very good care of her."

"Good. That's good. So what does she have to do with you?"

Sakura wiggled in her seat. "Do you remember Uchiha Sasuke?"

Ino grinned. "Do I ever." She then gasped. "Don't tell me he's your boyfriend now! Ugh, Sakura, you little slut—"

"What? No! No, he's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, well, then. Is he single?"

"_Ino_."

"Okay, okay. What does Sasuke have to do with Tenshi?"

Sakura hadn't been sure of how much of her life Tenshi had shared with those she knew, but she guessed it wasn't much because Ino didn't know Tenshi's ties with Sasuke. Deciding she was doing what was best, she told Ino everything she knew; her life with Naruto, her love for Sasuke, Tenshi's abortion, Tenshi's affair, how she kissed Naruto, and then finally about the Snake Room and how Sasuke said she would find answers there.

When she was finished, there were tears in Ino's eyes. "Jesus," she moaned. "That's so fucking terrible. Tenshi was one of the nicest girls I'd ever known. I had no idea she went through all of that."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "I want to help her. I think maybe if I can find out what the hell Sasuke was talking about, I can…somehow help heal her. Like Naruto is doing. I don't know; I just feel so bad and I want to make things right again."

Ino pressed her lips together. "I think your heart's in the right place. But…I don't know what the Snake Room is. Tenshi didn't talk about her past with any of us."

"Oh."

"Hey, how did you find this place anyway?"

Sakura smiled softly. "I found out about Red Heart from my boyfriend—"

"So you _do_ have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, Ino-pig, I have a boyfriend."

"Damn it… Am I the only one not getting laid?" she mumbled to herself.

Sakura waved her hand. "That's beside the point. Anyway, I met this nice man named Kabuto who gave me the directions—"

"Wait, _what_?"

Ino stood, her face paler than usual. Sakura stood as well. "What's wrong?"

"Did you say Kabuto? Where did you meet Kabuto?"

"O-Outside of Red Heart—well, what's left of it—"

"Sakura," Ino said slowly, lowly, "Kabuto is a fucking snake. He's the reason Tenshi left. He nearly _killed_ her."

Sakura's world shattered. "_What_?"

Ino nodded, the tears in her eyes slipping down her face. "Oh, my God," she suddenly said. "Did you tell him about Tenshi? Did you tell him anything about where's she living now or—?"

"No, no, no, I didn't say anything like that." Her heart was hammering painfully inside of her. _What have I done? _

Ino started the pace the room. "Well, did you tell him anything about you? Give him your phone number or anything?"

"No," Sakura said again. "Just my name." Ino swallowed loudly. "Sakura, maybe you should stay here tonight."

Sakura shook her head, wanting to cry as well. "Do you think I'm in danger?"

Ino shrugged. "You might be. We think Kabuto's the one who burned Red Heart down in the first place. He worked for the boss." She turned towards the nearest wall and banged her fist against it. "You should've seen what he did to Tenshi… I'll never forget it."

Sakura choked on a sob.

"Stay here," Ino told her, turning back to face her and grabbing her shoulders. "Stay here and you'll be safe."

"I can't," Sakura muttered. She felt sick to her stomach, like she'd just witnessed a murder. "I'll be fine," she said. "I'll go Sai's."

"Sai?"

"My boyfriend. I'll be safe if I go to him."

"Are you sure?" Ino pressed her thumbs into Sakura's skin.

"Yes."

Without warning, Ino crushed her in a hug. Sakura stiffened at first, simply because Ino had never hugged her, but then she felt her own arms wrap around the other girl's back. "Keep Tenshi safe, too," Ino said in her ear. "She's one of my best friends."

"I will," Sakura promised.

They separated, and then Ino pushed Sakura back a bit. "Now get out of here, forehead. Get out of Rakuen and, damn it, don't talk to strangers."

Disheveled, Sakura blinked back tears and staggered away, opening the door and heading towards the elevator.

"Forehead!" Ino called as she pressed the button to go down.

"Pig?" she asked.

Ino attempted to look composed. "Come back to, um, see me, yeah? And bring Tenshi, too."

Responding with just a smile and a tiny nod, Sakura raced out of the Butterfly House, successfully avoiding that older woman who worked at the front desk. She got into her car, drove back to Tokyo, and then headed to her own home. Before she went to Sai's there were a few things she needed in order to go to work the next morning. She was in the middle of shoving a few T-shirts into a bag when her front door was knocked off its hinges.

Four men entered her home, all wearing masks, and after a fight filled with hearty screams, nails, teeth, and a few punches thrown here and there, Sakura was kidnapped.

* * *

**So. How are you? Once again, I won't put you though my excuses, but I did have this up before Thanksgiving like I promised! All in all, I really hope you liked this chapter despite the fact that Naruto and Tenshi were absent. They will return next chapter! I'm sorry if you did not get a review response for the last chapter, but they will continue from here! Thank you guys so much, I love you to death!**

**Tell me what you think! See you soon!**


	23. 22: Drowning

**Bullet from a Gun **by** The Script**

* * *

_We've been trying to lay this ghost to rest  
__But there ain't no getting out of this mess._

**.22.  
****feels like you're drowning**

Tenshi had been feeling sick for the past two days. She hadn't been able to eat or sleep with the thought of the three missing little girls. What gave her nightmares, however, was the image of little Tanaka Yoko, the three-year-old, suffering in the grasp of Orochimaru.

It wasn't fair, and every time the news broadcasted the search, she was forced to leave the room in fear she would lose all aspects of self-control and throw a lamp into the television screen. Naruto, naturally, had noticed her change in behavior, but he simply figured the business meeting was making her as nervous as it was making him. It was to take place that next morning and Naruto practically fidgeted in the bed with nervousness. Beside him, Tenshi lay unmoving and completely awake. Her head was smothered in the pillow in an attempt to shallow her rapid breathing, and the covers were pulled to the nape of her neck so Naruto wouldn't notice her quivering.

Both assumed the other was fast asleep, therefore neither one spoke. Naruto, however, began to get antsy. Tenshi could usually evade whatever stress or worries overcame him, so he threw his arm around her, underneath the blankets, and shrugged her into his chest. At once, he could feel her shaking, and at the sudden contact she jumped in his hold and turned to face him in the quaint darkness of the bedroom.

He trailed his hand down the length of her spine, frowning. "Are you okay?" he asked, wrapping both arms around her small frame until the trembling became less violent.

She licked her lips, draping her legs over his. "I thought you were asleep."

"I can't, I'm too nervous. Why are you shaking?"

She shook her head. "Cold."

"Bullshit."

"Naruto," she warned.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "If you were cold, you would've let me know. You always let me know."

Tenshi pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and tried to make out the blue of his eyes in the obscurity. "I told you," she whispered, "I thought you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you." He opened his mouth, but she silenced whatever rebuttal he had with a hard kiss. Their lips made a loud smacking noise as Tenshi pulled back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm worried about you," he told her softly, pecking the exposed skin of her shoulder. She tightened her hold, nearly cutting off his air intake. "What have I told you about worrying?" Naruto sighed against her cool skin.

She braced her hands at his chest to push him back so that they were nose-to-nose. "You need to get some sleep for tomorrow."

"I can't sleep if you can't."

Tenshi's eyes widened a fraction. _Oh, I love you. _The words were on the tip of her tongue, reaching out to pry her teeth and lips open so that they could make their grand appearance, but the minute she thought she might actually say them, Naruto smiled and kissed her. She lost all forethought then, instead focusing on the movement of his mouth on hers. It was over soon enough though, and she sank into the pillows with the smear of a blush on her cheeks.

Naruto watched her, placing his hand on the back of her head where he fingered the silky strands of her short hair. She looked up at him from under her lashes. "You'll be tired in the morning," she discouraged once more. He shook his head. "I'm fine. I promise." Pulling her forearms so that their chests were cushioned together, Naruto sponged kisses across her chin and jaw until her eyes fluttered closed.

"Sleep," he whispered in her ear.

She tried to obey his command, but the images of the kidnapped girls wouldn't settle. Her fists clenched in front of her. He noticed her tenseness and rubbed his hands up and down her back.

"Tenshi," he mumbled. "Sleep. I'm right here."

That soothed her.

Eventually, her breathing evened out and the shivering stopped. She was half-asleep when Naruto pecked her forehead. He cuddled next to her, arms around her torso.

It took everything in her power not to hold him right back, but she finally fell into a deep slumber, not plagued by nightmares or anything of the sort.

* * *

Naruto anxiously tightened his tie for the sixth time as he sat at the round table that would soon be flooded by seven other men. On either side of him, Jiraiya's two executives typed away on laptops or were having hushed discussions over BlackBerry cell phones. Naruto looked between them, and then at the dark suit he was wearing. _Fuck. _He hadn't worn a tux since his parents' funeral.

Trying to look confident, he glanced at the man on his right—Ige Gorou—and gave a smile. "So," he started, "how's it goin'?" Gorou barely glanced at him. "Uzumaki-san," he replied curtly.

_Great, _Naruto thought, rubbing his sweating palms on his pants.

A few more minutes passed before four other men entered the large office. Two were dark-haired, one was blonde, and the other had hair so red it looked as if he'd dipped his entire head into a pool of blood. They filled in the seats at the round table, and Naruto's eyes strayed over to the red-haired man. He looked young; maybe two or three years younger than Naruto himself. For a moment all he could do was stare at the other man until Gorou cleared his throat, catching Naruto's attention.

"O-Oh, sorry," he stuttered, bringing his hands to the table to fold them together.

Gorou's brow twitched. "Uzumaki-san, these are a few of our partners, Naito Noburu and Kurokawa Shouta. They are here with the owners of the Sabaku industry, Sabaku Gaara and his brother, Kankurō."

_So that's Sabaku Gaara, huh… He's kind of fucking creepy._

Naruto stood, exchanging polite bows with each member. When Kankurō stood, however, he reached for Naruto's hand, shaking it with a grin on his face. "Custom in America," he said. Naruto's nerves relaxed. Now Kankurō, he liked.

Gaara stood next, tipping his head down slightly. Naruto eyed him suspiciously. Now that he had matched the younger man with a name, he felt a little more comfortable, but something was astray. He knew that face from somewhere…he knew those piercing, cold green eyes.

Gaara took his seat and averted his gaze. "I assume Uchiha-san will be here soon?"

Gorou nodded once. "Yes. However, I do have word that if he is not here by nine o'clock, we may start without him."

Naruto frowned, glancing up at the clock. 9:03 AM.

He didn't know why, but he sunk into his seat.

Kankurō followed Naruto's eyes and smirked. "Well, let's get this show on the road." Gaara's steely gaze rested on his brother for a few seconds before he sat back and crossed his arms.

Gorou agreed. "Very well, Sabaku-san." He stood, once more clearing his throat. For fifteen minutes he discussed topics Naruto was foreign to. Half the time all he could do was sit and stare ahead, slack-jawed, his thoughts composed of nothing but Tenshi, Sabaku Gaara, Sasuke's whereabouts, and what he would eat for lunch when he got home.

"…sounds reasonable to me. What do you think, Uzumaki-san?"

"Huh?"

Every pair of eyes was on him, except for Gaara, who was looking out of a window with his hand beneath his chin.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto said, waving his hand like he knew what was transpiring. "Totally agree. That's great, that's what's up."

"That's 'what's up'?" Gorou repeated softly.

Naruto blinked. _Oh, shit. What has Jiraiya gotten me into? _He straightened his shoulders, attempting to look somewhat educated and less of an idiot. "It's, well, you know—"

"Sorry I'm late."

All seven men turned abruptly to see Uchiha Sasuke and his two representatives walk into the office, the three of them looking highly professional and dapper in their black suits and ties. Naruto idly took a peek at the maroon tie he wore, which he noticed didn't match with the rest of his attire at all.

_For fuck's sake. Why didn't I let Tenshi help me get dressed? _

"Uchiha-san, welcome," Gorou said. He seemed to be the head-honcho, Naruto mused to himself.

Sasuke and his partners took a seat, and finally all ten chairs were filled. Naruto watched carefully as Gaara and Sasuke exchanged a crisp nod. And then Sasuke's heavy black eyes turned towards Naruto's blue ones. They stared at each other, neither saying a word, and only broke the contact when Kankurō began to give his input. The rest of the meeting flew by, and while Naruto had no earthly clue what information had been agreed to or what arrangements were made, he nodded whenever his name was mentioned. Gorou appeared to be just fine with that. Naruto tried to keep his head clear, but he kept looking at Sasuke; his dark eyes, pale skin, and inky hair. Flashes of Tenshi underneath him kept picking into his brain, and the thought of her with Sasuke—fucking Sasuke—almost drove him to knocking the round table over and telling that bastard what he could really do with his filthy dick.

"…that concludes the meeting. Thank you, gentlemen."

It was over.

Naruto blinked hard, watching as everyone stood, exchanging bows and handshakes—on Kankurō's part, of course.

Naruto stood as well, immediately loosening his tie and running his hand through his hair. Sasuke and Gaara's representatives, along with his brother, left the office, leaving the three men alone. Naruto made a bee line for Gaara and stood directly in front of him, blocking his line of vision and nearly startling him.

"Can…I help you?" Gaara asked in his hoarse, albeit velvety voice.

Naruto gave a shaky grin. "Um, no. Well, yeah, actually, you can. I was just wondering; do I, uh, know you?"

His green eyes narrowed. "I don't think so."

"You sure, man? I swear I've met you some…" He trailed off, his brows tightening before they rose substantially. Sasuke watched the altercation with secret earnest.

Naruto's mouth went bone-dry. He remembered. He remembered collecting Tenshi from Acid. He remembered the girl telling Tenshi one name: _Gaara_. He remembered finding the picture of the red-haired man underneath the bed.

_Well, if that don't fuckin' beat all. _

How could he not have put two and two together? Granted, Gaara was a common name and he'd never known the face of any of the Sabakus before the business meeting, but he should've known. Everything made sense now.

"Do you know Tenshi?" he asked Gaara. The other man's expression turned morbid.

"Get the hell away from me," he spat, roughly shoving passed him. Naruto wouldn't have it. He harshly gripped the back of his suit. Gaara froze.

"I asked you a fucking question."

Sasuke suddenly had Naruto's wrist in his grip, detaching his fingers from the fabric of Gaara's tux.

"Calm down," he said briskly. With a growl, Naruto pulled his arm back and clenched his fists.

"You slimy son-of-a-bitch. I could fucking kill you."

Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes as he stood between Gaara and Naruto. There was a gleam in his darker-than-black pupils that made Naruto want to carve his face in with his knuckles. "What the hell made you think you could tame that whore?" Sasuke asked. He cringed as soon as the words left his mouth. He didn't mean that. He had come to hold a certain respect for Hinata even confusing to him, but something about riling up Naruto made him feel a satisfaction he'd treasured since they met. He was, honestly, just a jackass.

That, and jealousy was coursing steadily though his veins, green and thick as it stained his insides. He hadn't realized it until that moment, but he wouldn't have minded having her for himself. Granted, he knew it was too late now. She had clawed her way into Naruto like she did everyone else that entered her life.

"That _whore_," Naruto spat, "happens to be one of the most important people in my life, and I'll be damned if I stand here and listen to you speak about her like that."

Sasuke blinked very slowly, genuinely confused. "What do you _want_ from her, Naruto? What can she possibly give you?"

"A hell of a lot more than she ever gave you."

_Ouch. _"Is that what you think?"

"It's none of your goddamn business."

Sasuke glowered. "I'm making it my fucking business."

"She has _nothing_ to do with you!" Naruto exploded, his face reddening from his sheer anger. His hands itched to feel Sasuke's blood running down them. He paused to catch his breath, waiting for the Uchiha's response, but he absolutely detested the words that came out of his mouth.

"That bitch has everything to do with me."

Naruto shook his head as a cruel burst of laughter slipped passed his lips. "You're fucking wacked of you think that, Sasuke." He stepped closer to him, his voice a steady grumble as he bit out, "She's mine."

Sasuke sneered. "You think you can handle her?" _You don't know the shit you're in for. _

"What the fuck are you saying, man? You think I'm not good enough?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Naruto moved even closer until the fringe of their messy hair nearly meshed. "I'm one-hundred times the man you'll ever be. You might as well be shit on the bottom of my fucking shoe."

Sasuke smirked. "Careful."

"Or what? You think I'm fucking afraid of you? Of your money? Go to hell."

"That girl will destroy you!" He didn't know where it came from, but he cared for Naruto. He cared for Tenshi. Her past was too tainted for him. He knew it. She'd be the death of him.

Naruto swung his fist, barely clipping Sasuke as he ducked. "You were supposed to be my friend! How the hell could you sleep with her?"

He threw another punch, this time catching the side of Sasuke's ribs. He faltered a bit, but stood back up, grimacing. _You have no idea what she did to me. What she still does to me. _

"I trusted you, motherfucker. It makes me sick to even look at you." Naruto heaved heavy breaths, his anger getting the best of him.

They watched each other for a moment, trying to read the next move, when the door to the office quickly opened and closed. Naruto glanced up, only to see Sabaku Gaara was gone. He'd completely forgotten about him.

"Damn it," he said, moving passed Sasuke to look out the door.

"Leave it," Sasuke advised.

Naruto glanced back at him, scowled, and then exited as well, giving Sasuke a clear view of the bird on his way out. He intended to have a conversation with Tenshi.

Sasuke licked his lips, pulled out a chair at the round table and sat down. From there, he proceeded to take out his cell phone and call Nara Shikamaru. There was no way he was getting any work done with the headache Naruto had just given him.

* * *

Tenshi had spent the day with Kiba's sister, Hana, shopping around Tokyo and stopping to eat at one of Hana's favorite restaurants. As it turned out, Hana had finally allowed Kiba and Akamaru to move back into their home in Tokyo, and after dropping him off, she'd showed up at Naruto's house with a warm hug and a smile for Tenshi.

Tenshi never realized how much she'd missed female company until Hana. It felt good to laugh and giggle about things only girls could laugh and giggle about.

"I have to know," Tenshi began as Hana nearly ran a red light.

"Yes?" the older woman asked.

"Why did you keep Kiba in Rakuen for so long when his house had been ready to move back into for weeks?"

Hana laughed loudly. "I'm not sure. I guess because I hardly saw him while he was in Tokyo, so when he told me he needed somewhere to say when they were remodeling his house I needed him to stay with me. I dunno." She smiled softly. "He's my little brother."

"You love him," Tenshi said.

"So much." She sighed. "But it'll be nice just having me and Haru again. And, God, I hate to admit it, but I'll even miss that goddamn dog of his."

Tenshi laughed. "He is a very sweet dog."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Tenshi ran a hand through her hair, smiling as she watched Hana's warm brown eyes crinkle in the corners. With the thought of little Akamaru, it made her think of her own pets. Akiku and Ai needed food. "Mind if we stop by the pet store?" Hana shook her head. "Of course not. Kiba needs some new sheets anyway. There's a place next door where I can get them."

They headed to the pet shop where Tenshi and Naruto had bought Akiku's collar. While Tenshi ventured into the pet place, Hana wandered next door. They agreed to try and get back to the car in no more than fifteen minutes, since Tenshi couldn't help but look at the cute cats while she shopped and Hana would need to call Kiba to see what color sheets he wanted.

Once in the cat food aisle, Tenshi picked up two small bags and a fluffy little mouse toy that she knew Akiku would love. She was heading over to the fish section in the very back of the store when a pair of hands wrapped themselves around her mouth and nose, making her drop the items she was holding. Like a wild animal, she thrashed against the grip, her senses overloaded. All she could think was, _Orochimaru. He has me. He found me. He's going to kill me. _Tears slipped down her face as she threw her head back, finding release when she heard her skull crack against the person's nose.

Free, she collapsed to her hands and knees, crawling forwards to a shelf. As she struggled to get back to her feet, she opened her mouth to scream bloody-murder for help, but the man holding his bleeding, broken nose was not Orochimaru.

It was Akio, the employee of the store whom Tenshi had once run into when first shopping for Akiku. He had had frightened her at first, but Naruto had assured her that not everyone was going to hurt her.

Maybe Naruto was wrong.

"Y-You," she muttered. Her tears became heavier. "You! I k-knew there was something wrong with you! You bastard, stay the hell away from me!"

Akio had given her an eerie feeling the moment she'd bumped into him. He held his hand out, seemingly trying to tell her to lower her voice as he got to his feet and gingerly touched his nose.

"Damn," he said. "You really got me there."

"You creepy fuck," she hissed. "What the hell do you want with me? I'm not having sex with you; I don't do that any—"

"It's not that," he interrupted. Surprisingly, his eyes instantly got wet. "I-I work for Orochimaru. Or…I used to. Shit. I can't do this."

Tenshi's world collapsed around her. Hearing his name out loud from someone's mouth besides her own was terrifying. She sunk back to the tiled floor, her heart dead weight in her chest. Her insides quivered. She thought she was dying. Akio began to cry. "He hired me months ago. Just wanted me to keep an eye on some of the guys he was looking at to make deals with, you know? Find little girls and stuff…"

Tenshi closed her eyes. This could not be happening. This could not be happening. _This could not be happening_. It was as if every nightmare she'd ever had had manifested into a real, tangible being, knocking at her front door and threatening to gobble her up.

"I-I really had no fucking clue what I was getting into. My mother died last year. I got into real shitty situations. Drugs and stuff." Akio paused to sniffle. "He never told me about you until last week; just described how you looked a little. One of your friends had mentioned you to his assistant and he kept saying he had to find you. He showed me a picture of you from when you were a little girl. I knew who you were right away, but I didn't say I'd seen you. He probably would've killed me."

Tenshi was numb. Briefly the words "friend" and "assistant" went through her ears, but didn't linger. An intense burning sensation occurred in her stomach, and she realized the acid was bubbling, signaling that she was probably going to vomit. She paused to gasp for breath, but then looked up at Akio with teary, red-rimmed eyes. She wanted to slap him. She wanted to thank him. "Then why stop attacking me? Why not take me to him right now like he wants you to?"

"He's fucking sick! He has the little girls; the ones that have been missing! The shit he threatens to do to them…the youngest one hasn't stopped crying since I've met her…"

_I knew it. _A sob ripped its way passed her throat. She covered her mouth, using her shaking hands to push the wayward bangs from her eyes. "I-Is he…h-h-hurting them?"

Akio tightly closed his eyes. "Hits them when they cry too loudly. That's it for now."

_He's going easy on them. _She gasped loudly, trying to collect her thoughts. Her vision was blending into a water world. "You s-said something about a friend…"

He glanced at her, but then looked back down in shame. "Her name is Sakura. He took her from her house and he's been torturing her to get information about you. She won't crack, though."

Tenshi was well passed the state of shock. _Oh, no. Oh, no, please, God, no. No. No. _Her throat tightened. "Has he…he…?"

"Raped her? No. But he says he will if she won't talk."

She couldn't swallow. This was what she had been trying to avoid; people getting hurt. But Orochimaru had Sakura. Orochimaru had three small children. What in God's name was she supposed to do?

"And the assistant?" she asked. Akio suddenly looked angry. "Name is Kabuto. You know him from what he's told me."

"That fucking snake!" Tenshi heaved, her chest tight. For the love of God, she'd _known_ he was up to no good from the very beginning. Her knees buckled.

"Tenshi," Akio muttered. "I am so, so sorry. But I had to fucking warn you. He's got Sakura. He's got those goddamn kids. He says he's gonna find you no matter who he has to kill. I know you've got a boyfriend or something now. Tell him. He can help you—"

"No!" She found the strength to stand, slapping her hands together. "Never! I'm not involving him. I'd die first."

"Then what the hell are you gonna do?"

Her bottom lip quivered. "I'm the one he wants. I-I… have to save them."

"By yourself?"

She wiped her eyes. Akio rushed towards her. "I could help you with that bastard—"

"No," she said sternly. "I'm not going to let anyone else die because of me. If he asks you what you did today, you never saw me, understand? None of this happened."

"B-But if you just show up there, he'll know someone told you what he did—"

"I'll handle that."

Akio covered his face with his hands. Tenshi legs shook as she struggled to carry her weight. She held onto the shelf behind her, trying to will her limbs to still so that she could at least walk ten feet. Her teeth chattered, her forehead beaded with tiny droplets of sweat as her past swirled through her head.

Her father leaving. Her mother's illicit sex life after his departure. Kurenai and Hitomi Beach. Asuma and his cigarette-stained breath. Her mother's death. The pimp, Kanji, selling her to Orochimaru. Life locked within the confines of the Snake Room. Gaara. Sasuke. The abortion. Her screams, the men's screams, the other girls' screams that Orochimaru had brought into his world before he'd killed them. She was the only one who'd gotten away. She'd gotten away, found Red Heart and sipped sin some more. She saw Tenten, Temari, Ino. She saw Neji, his careful eyes and soft touches. She saw Kabuto and hissed when the memory of his shoes ramming into her gut came back. She remembered the bruises. But then there was Naruto. Naruto and his promises. Naruto and his kisses. Naruto and his smile. His eyes. His hair. His skin. His hands. His body.

His love.

Like a baby bird not yet ready to fly, Tenshi sunk back to the store floor with a cry so broken and heartfelt it caused Akio's eyes to once again water.

She curled her legs to her chest and balled her fists, banging them against the side of her head. She repeated one word over and over: _no_. The life she had come to live was too precious to let Orochimaru defile. He had eaten enough hearts. She would do whatever she had to if it meant protecting Naruto from her past. If she had to venture back into Tokyo's bowels to retrieve Sakura and the children, then she would.

She would do anything.

Akio bent to her side to help her and she gratefully leaned into him, allowing him to lead her around the corner. "I want to help you," he said quietly. He was regretful.

Tenshi unhooked his fingers from her arms. She stared into his dark eyes. "You want to help me?" she repeated, smiling gently as he nodded. She placed a hand on the side of his face.

"Stay alive."

Akio bit his bottom lip as tears trickled down his face.

She whispered the request once more before squeezing his shoulder, turning around and sprinting out of the pet store.

Hana was already outside, leaning against the car. A sucker was in her mouth, protruding from her cheek, and she was reading a magazine. Upon seeing Tenshi running wildly to the car, item-less, crying, and an overall wreck, she dropped what she was reading and rushed to her, holding her up before she dropped to the pavement.

"The hell?" she muttered, gathering the other girl's weight. Tenshi was desperate, wrapping her arms around Hana.

"What happened, honey? Look at me, look at me. What's going on?"

Tenshi's hold tightened. She needed Naruto. "W-W-We have to get b-back home. Now."

Hana shook her head. "What the hell are you—?"

"Please," Tenshi begged, clutching the cotton shirt she wore. "I'll e-explain there. Just g-get me home."

* * *

**Alright! This chapter was initially much longer, but I had to cut it into two parts because it was just **_**too**_** long. I'm so glad we've finally made it to this point, yay! Thank you so, so, so much for all your beautiful reviews! They are lovely! Well, except for a few people who have kindly told me that I'm "fucking sick" and should "hang myself". Well. You are just one unhappy camper, aren't ya? **

**With all that said, I have no intention of committing suicide because I have this story to finish! I love you guys to death! If there are any questions or confusion, feel free to PM me; it might get a little foggy from here. And if you can't remember who Akio is, check out chapter twelve: Breakeven. **

**If you liked it, please leave a review! Feedback is extremely necessary, negative and positive! **

**See you soon, loves. **

**Lisa Jones: **Why, thank you! Nice to know I've rekindled your love for NaruHina. They are quite the sexy couple though, no?

**Guest 1: **Eh, one day I will return to Piece by Piece, but I already know what I want to happen with this story, so I'm going to finish it first. But I will work on PBP soon!

**Charlson: **Whatever do you mean?

**Guest 2: **Don't be sad.

**Guest 3: **Thank you so much!

**Guest 4: **Hinata's name is not forever lost, don't worry.

**Guest 5: **Sorry!

**Banjo: **It's a cruel world, dude. Sometimes people get raped and stuff.

**Guest 6: **Wow, thank you so much! I do my best!

**You guys are just the bees knees. **


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